Elections in Bolivia

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Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Elections in Bolivia gives information on elections and election results in Bolivia.

Bolivia elects on national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president and the vice-president are elected for a five-year term by the people. The National Congress (Congreso Nacional) has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) has 130 members, elected for a five-year term using the Additional Member System, and in the case of seven indigenous seats by usos y costumbres. The Chamber of Senators (Cámara de Senadores) has 36 members: each of the country's nine departments returns four senators allocated proportionally.[1]

Bolivia has a multi-party system, with numerous parties. During the first 23 years of renewed democracy beginning 1982, no one party succeeded in gaining power alone, and parties had to work with each other to form coalition governments. Since 2005, a single party has achieved a parliamentary majority.

Ahead of any national election a period of prohibition takes effect. This is with the intention of preventing inebriated nationals voting in error. Nationals are also forbidden from travelling around during the same period. This is to prevent voters from voting in more than one district. On polling day it is difficult to obtain a taxi or bus, due to the limitations placed upon travel and transport.

Schedule

Election

Position 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Type Presidential and National Congress (December 6) Regional (April) Judicial (October 16) only special elections Presidential and National Congress (October 12) Regional (April)
President and
vice president		 President and vice president None President and vice president None
National Congress All seats None All seats None
Departments, provinces, and municipalities None All positions None All positions

Inauguration

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Position 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Type Presidential (November)
National Congress (November)
Gubernatorial (November)		 None Presidential (November)
National Congress (November)
Gubernatorial (November)
President and
vice president		 6 November None 6 November
National Congress 6 November None 6 November
Provinces, cities and municipalities 6 November None 6 November

Electoral system

The president is directly elected by the people, by majority. A candidate has to receive at least 50% of the vote, or 40% of the vote, and 10% more than the second candidate to be elected, otherwise a second round is held with the top two finishers to determine the winner.

The 130 members in the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) (excluding the seven special seats) are elected using the additional member system. 63 seats are elected in single-member districts using first-past-the-post voting. 60 additional seats are elected using closed list party-list proportional representation in districts of varying sizes corresponding to Bolivia's nine departments. For parties receiving at least 3% of the national vote, the seats are distributed using the D'Hondt method, subtracting the number of seats the respective party gained from the single-member districts in the respective department. If one party has more seats from the single-member districts alone than the proportion of list vote it received, the extra seats are taken from the last allocated list seats.

The remaining seven seats are reserved indigenous seats elected by the usos y costumbres, using first-past-the-post voting. A voter can only vote in one of either the normal constituencies or special constituencies.

The Chamber of Senators (Cámara de Senadores) has 36 members, four from each the country's nine departments, which are also elected using closed party-lists, using the D'Hondt method.[1]

Both the senate, and the proportional part of the Chamber of Deputies is elected based on the vote for the presidential candidates, while the deputies from the single-member districts are elected using separate votes. Party lists are required to alternate between men and women, while candidates in single-member districts are required to have an alternate, of the opposite sex. At least 50% of the single-member deputies are required to be women [1]

History of elections in Bolivia

Indirect elections, 1825-50

Elections were conducted in the early Republican period using multiple levels of electors, each of which would elect members of the next higher level, culminating in the President.[2]

Direct elections with restricted suffrage, 1839 and 1850-1938

In the elections of 1839, however, the president was elected by a majority of all voters. This system became the norm beginning in 1850. Voting requirements included a minimum property or income or service in one of the professions, and forbid all those "in domestic service" from voting. Indigenous peoples were effectively excluded from the franchise.

Expanding electorate, 1938-1951

Under the Constitution of 1938, all requirements except for being male, literate, and of age, were removed from prospective voters. Elections were held in 1940 and 1951, and saw a dramatic expansion of the electorate.

Universal suffrage and interruptions in democracy, 1952-79

Shortly after coming to power through the 1952 Revolution, the National Revolutionary Movement instituted universal suffrage, ending literacy requirements and racial restrictions which had massively reduced the Bolivian electorate up to that time. General elections were held in 1956, 1960, and 1964; and purely legislative elections were held in 1958 and 1962. Democracy was interrupted in 1964 by René Barrientos Ortuño, who proceeded to hold and win an election in 1966 and to convoke the Constituent Assembly of 1966-67 to rewrite the Constitution of Bolivia.[3] Following Barrientos' death in 1969, democracy was further interrupted by military rule until 1979, including the eight-year dictatorship of Hugo Bánzer Suarez.

Democratic transition and final dictatorship, 1979-82

In a chaotic period of transition marked by numerous coups d'état, three elections were held in 1978, 1979, 1980. Parliamentary majorities were not obtained in 1978 and 1979 and alliance building was interrupted by coups. Lydia Gueiler, an elected member of the National Congress assumed power constitutionally from November 1979 to mid-1980. The results of the 1980 elections were the basis for the post-1982 parliament and the 1982-85 government of Hernán Siles Zuazo.

Multiparty democracy, 1982-present

Elections have been held regularly in the democratic period that began in 1982. General elections were held in 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2005, and 2009.[3] A Constituent Assembly was elected in 2006. The 1985 Organic Law of Municipalities restored local elections for mayor and created a legislative body, the municipal council, in each municipality.[4] The first local elections were held in 1987, followed by further elections in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2004, and 2010. Similarly, departmental elections for Prefect began in 2006 and elections for Departmental Legislative Assemblies began in 2010. Following the passage of the 2009 Constitution, the National Electoral Court was replaced in late 2010 by a fourth branch of government, the Plurinational Electoral Organ, whose highest body is the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

Upcoming elections

2016 Presidential re-election referendum

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Main article: Bolivian presidential re-election referendum, 2016

On February 21, 2016, Bolivian voters will approve or reject an amendment to the country's constitution that would allow President Evo Morales and Vice President Álvaro García Linera to run again for re-election in 2019.[5] Currently, Article 168 of the constitution allows these officeholders to put themselves forward for re-election only once. The proposed constitutional reform was passed by a combined session of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly on September 26, 2015, by a vote of 112 to 41.[6] Law 757, which convenes the February referendum, was passed 113 to 43, and was promulgated on November 5, 2015.[5]

2019 General election

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Main article: Bolivian general election, 2019

Latest elections

2015 Regional election

2014 General election

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Main article: Bolivian general election, 2014

The last election for national executive and legislative offices, including President and Vice President and the Plurinational Legislative Assembly was held in late 2014, with new terms beginning 2015. In September 2010, President Evo Morales suggested he was eligible to run for re-election in 2014. However, Bolivian presidents are only eligible to be re-elected to one successive term under Article 168 of the Constitution. Morales and his supporters argued that his first term, 2006–10, was incomplete. Juan del Granado, leader of the Without Fear Movement (MSM), challenged its former ally, the Movement towards Socialism to carry out a constitutional referendum if it wanted Morales to stand for re-election.[7] Morales proceeded to win the election with a large margin.

Party Presidential candidate Votes % Seats
Chamber Senate
Seats +/– Seats +/–
Movement for Socialism Evo Morales 3,173,304 61.36 88 0[lower-alpha 1] 25 –1
Democrat Unity Samuel Doria Medina 1,253,288 24.23 32 – 9 –
Christian Democratic Party Jorge Quiroga 467,311 9.04 10 – 2 –
Movement without Fear Juan del Granado 140,285 2.71 0 -4[lower-alpha 2] 0 –
Green Party of Bolivia Fernando Vargas 137,240 2.65 0 – 0 –
Total (94.2% of ballots cast; 86.6% of electorate) 5,171,428 100 130 0 36 0
Invalid (null) votes 208,061 3.8
Blank votes 108,187 2.0
Total ballots cast (91.9% of electorate) 5,487,676
Registered voters 5,971,152
Source:Tribunal Supremo Electoral (Final Results in Spanish; Final results by department, province, and municipality).
  1. ↑ The previous Movement for Socialism total included four deputies belonging to the Movement without Fear.
  2. ↑ Four deputies belonging to the Movement without Fear were elected in alliance with the Movement for Socialism in 2009.

2011 Judicial election

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Main article: Bolivian judicial election, 2011

The first Bolivian judicial election is scheduled to be held on 5 December 2010. However, officials of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and of the MAS majority in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly have suggested that it will be delayed into 2011.[8] The national vote will elect magistrates to serve on the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Spanish: Tribunal Supremo de Justicia), the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal (Spanish: Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional), the Agro-environmental Tribunal (Spanish: Tribunal Agroambiental), and members of the Council of the Judiciary (Spanish: Consejo de la Magistratura).[9]

2011 Special municipal election

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Main article: Bolivian special municipal election, 2011

A special election is due be held for the mayor of five cities where mayors have stepped down or been indicted. In July 2011, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal formally convoked the elections for Mayor in three cities: Sucre, Quillacollo, and Pazña for December 18, 2011.[10]

City Outgoing Mayor (Party) Notes
Sucre, Chuquisaca Jaime Barrón (PAÍS) Resigned in July 2010 under indictment for May 24, 2008 violence
Quillacollo, Cochabamba Héctor Cartagena (UNE)
Punata, Cochabamba Víctor Balderrama (Insurgente Martín Uchu) Suspended under indictment for aggravated rape of a minor on August 10, 2010 (convicted September 2011[11]); pledged to resign to allow new elections
Pazña, Oruro Víctor Centeno (MAS-IPSP) Resigned on 15 June 2010 under "psychological pressure and regional divisions"[12]
Catacora, La Paz

2010 Regional election

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Main article: Bolivian regional election, 2010

Departmental and municipal authorities will be elected on 4 April 2010. Among the officials to be elected are:

  • Governors of all nine departments
  • Members of Departamental Legislative Assemblies in each department; 23 seats in these Assemblies will represent indigenous communities, and have been selected by traditional usos y costumbres in the weeks prior to the election
  • Provincial Subgovernors and Municipal Corregidors (executive authorities) in Beni
  • Sectional Development Executives at the provincial level in Tarija
  • Mayors and Council members in all 337 municipalities[13]
  • The five members of the Regional Assembly in the autonomous region of Gran Chaco

The political parties contesting elections in each department are as follows:

2009 General election

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Main article: Bolivian general election, 2009
Candidate Party Votes Percentage Deputies Senators
  Evo Morales Ayma Movement for Socialism 2.943.209 64,22 88 26
  Manfred Reyes Villa Plan Progress for Bolivia – National Convergence 1.212.795 26,46 37 10
  Samuel Doria Medina National Unity Front 258.971 5,65 3
  René Joaquino Carlos Social Alliance 106.027 2,31 2
  Ana María Flores Social Patriotic Unity Movement 23.257 0,51
  Román Loayza People 15.627 0,34
  Alejo Véliz Peoples for Liberty and Sovereignty 12.995 0,28
  Rime Choquehuanca Social Democratic Bolivia 9.905 0,22
  Valid votes 4.582.786 94,31
  Blank votes 156.290 3,22
  Null votes 120,364 2,48
  Total votes 4.859.440 100 130 36
Source: Comisión Nacional Electoral

2009 Constitutional referendum

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Main article: Bolivian constitutional referendum, 2009

In elections held on 25 January 2009, Bolivian voters approved a new Constitution.

Bolivian constitutional referendum, 2009[15][16]
Yes or no Votes Percentage
Yes check.svg Yes 2,064,360 61.43%
No 1,296,097 38.57%
Valid votes 3,360,457 95.70%
Invalid or blank votes 151,100 4.30%
Total 3,511,557 100.00%
Voter turnout 90.26%
Cap on maximum landholdings Votes Percentage
5,000 hectares 1,956,567 80.65%
10,000 hectares 469,361 19.35%
Valid votes 2,425,928 69.16%
Invalid or blank votes 1,081,678 30.84%
Total 3,507,606 100.00%
Voter turnout 90.16%

2008 Revocation referendum

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Main article: Bolivian vote of confidence referendum, 2008
e • d Summary of the 10 August 2008 Bolivian recall referendum results
Position Party Candidate Votes against recall % against recall % threshold Result
President
Vice President		 Movement Toward Socialism Juan Evo Morales Ayma
Álvaro García Linera		 2,103,732 67.41% 53.7% Survived
Prefect of Beni Department PODEMOS Ernesto Suárez 64,866 64.25% 44.64% Survived
Prefect of Chuquisaca Department Allianza Comité Interinstitucional Savina Cuéllar Not voting
Prefect of Cochabamba Department Nueva Fuerza Republicana Manfred Reyes Villa 195,290 35.19% 47.64% Recalled
Prefect of La Paz Department José Luis Paredes 362,214 35.48% 37.99% Recalled
Prefect of Oruro Department Alberto Luis Aguilar 84,364 50.86% 40.95% Survived
Prefect of Pando Department PODEMOS Leopoldo Fernández 14,841 56.21% 48.03% Survived
Prefect of Potosí Department Mario Virreira 171,629 79.08% 40.69% Survived
Prefect of Santa Cruz Department Autonomy for Bolivia Ruben Costas 451,191 66.43% 47.87% Survived
Prefect of Tarija Department Civic Committee Mario Cossío 78,170 58.06% 45.65% Survived
Source: National Election Court of Bolivia

Past elections

2006 Constituent Assembly election

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Main article: Bolivian Constituent Assembly election, 2006

2005 Presidential election

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Main article: Bolivian presidential election, 2005
e • d Summary of the 18 December 2005 Bolivian presidential election results
Candidates Nominating parties Votes %
Juan Evo Morales Ayma
Álvaro García Linera		 Movement Toward Socialism 1,544,374 53.7
Jorge Fernando "Tuto" Quiroga Ramírez
María Renée de los Ángeles Duchén Cuéllar		 Democratic and Social Power 821,745 28.6
Samuel Jorge Doria Medina Auza
Carlos Fernando Dabdoub Arrien		 National Unity Front 224,090 7.8
Michiaki Nagatani Morishita
Guillermo Luis Bedregal Gutiérrez		 Revolutionary Nationalist Movement 185,859 6.5
Felipe Quispe Huanca
Camila Choqueticlla		 Indigenous Pachakuti Movement 61,948 2.2
Gildo Angulo Cabrera
Gonzalo José Silvestre Quiroga Soria		 New Republican Force 19,667 0.7
Eliceo Rodríguez Pari
Rodolfo Antonio Flores Morelli		 Agrarian Patriotic Front of Bolivia 8,737 0.3
Néstor García Rojas
Teodomiro Rengel Huanca		 Social Union of the Workers of Bolivia 7,381 0.3
Total (turnout: 84.5 %) 2,873,801 100.0
Null votes 104,570 3.4
Blank votes 124,027 3.0
Total votes 3,102,417 100.0
Registered voters 3,671,152
Source: CNE

2005 Parliamentary election

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Main article: Bolivian legislative election, 2005

—

e • d Summary of the 18 December 2005 National Congress of Bolivia election results
Parties Votes % Deputies Senators
Movement Toward Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo) 1,544,374 53.7 72 12
Social and Democratic Power (Poder Democrático y Social, PODEMOS) 821,745 28.6 43 13
National Unity Front (Frente de Unidad Nacional) 224,090 7.8 8 1
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario) 185,859 6.5 7 1
Indigenous Pachakuti Movement (Movimiento Indígena Pachakuti) 61,948 2.2 - -
New Republican Force (Nueva Fuerza Republicana) 19,667 0.7 - -
Agrarian Patriotic Front of Bolivia (Frente Patriótico Agropecuario de Bolivia) 8,737 0.3 - -
Social Union of the Workers of Bolivia (Unión Social de los Trabajadores de Bolivia) 7,381 0.3 - -
Total (turnout: 84.534 %) 2,873,801 100.0 130 27
Null votes 104,570 3.4
Blank votes 124,027 3.0
Total votes 3,102,417 100.0
Registered voters 3,671,152
Source: CNE and Rulers

See also

Notes

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ "Ley aplaza elección de autoridades judiciales," La Razón, 12 August 2010.
  9. ↑ "Elecciones judiciales serán el 5 diciembre," Los Tiempos, 5 February 2010.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ "En Quillacollo y Pazña habrán nuevas elecciones para alcalde," Bolivianpress.com, 16 June 2011.
  13. ↑ Corte Nacional Electoral, Elecciones departamentales y municipales 2010.
  14. ↑ Corte Nacional Electoral, ¿Qué eligiremos el 4 de abril?.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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