The government's Electoral Service said on its Web site www.servel.cl that election day would be a public holiday and polls would open at 7 a.m. Under Chilean law, if no candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round will be held 30 days later.
Lagging in the polls, President Michelle Bachelet's center-left coalition faces a tough fight against a resurgent right to retain its two-decade grip on power in a presidential election analysts say will be a close call.
Center-right billionaire businessman Sebastian Pinera, who lost a 2006 election run-off to Bachelet, is leading the field, according to opinion polls.
Former President Eduardo Frei has emerged as the main hope of the leftist alliance that has ruled since the end of Chile's 1973-1990 dictatorship. Bachelet cannot run for re-election.
With Chile's economy widely regarded as one of the most stable in Latin America, and lauded for fiscal prudence, few expect major policy changes whoever wins.
