Bolivia election: What you need to know
Ex-President Evo Morales, Bolivia's dominant political figure of recent decades, is barred from running and has called on the electorate to boycott the race, but polls suggest his influence is waning.
Top of mind for voters is the fragile economy. Natural gas exports have plummeted, inflation is at a 40-year high, and fuel is scarce.
If no candidate wins the August vote outright the election heads to a runoff, scheduled for October 19.
The new president takes office on November 8.
Here's a guide to the election:
Bolivia's incumbent Movement for Socialism, or MAS, which has governed almost continuously since 2006, approaches the election as a weak, fragmented political force, with voter support waning amid the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
Opinion polls suggest growing support for right-wing parties pledging a change of direction and stabilization of the economy.
Morales, a three-time former president and co-founder of MAS, was barred from running after a failed attempt to change the constitution to allow a fourth term. President Luis Arce is not seeking reelection.
Bolivia's electoral tribunal plans to roll out a new system this year in response to fraud claims made after the 2019 presidential vote that led to widespread unrest and the resignation of then-president Morales.
Under the new system, vote tally sheets will be photographed at polling stations and transmitted directly to counting centers. International observers from the European Union and Organization of American States are due to oversee the process.
Polls open at 8 a.m. (1200 GMT) and close at 4 p.m. locally. The tribunal aims to publish 80% of preliminary results on election night. Official results are due within seven days.
None of the crowded field of candidates vying for the five-year term are polling above 30%, with about a quarter of voters saying they remain undecided.
In the lead is 66-year-old Samuel Doria Medina, a center-right real estate tycoon who brought Burger King to Bolivia. Doria Medina's main proposals include cutting government subsidies, privatizing state firms, and shoring up the economy.
Polling second is another conservative, Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, 65, who briefly served as president from 2001 to 2002. He's a vocal critic of leftist governments in Latin America, and his platform includes restoring private property rights and expanding free trade.
Support for left-wing and MAS-affiliated candidates is trailing the right-wing opposition. The leading leftist contender, with around 6% support, is Andronico Rodriguez, 36, who was once seen as Morales' political heir but has distanced himself from MAS.
His platform focuses on rural voters and "intelligent austerity" proposals that aim to reduce government spending while prioritizing the disadvantaged.
Bolivia's vast salt flats are home to the world's largest resources of the battery metal, but the country has long struggled to ramp up production or develop commercially viable reserves.
Russian and Chinese companies are among the few that have moved forward with development proposals, but the deals have not received approval from the legislature, where the ruling party is fractured and Arce lacks a congressional majority.
Some investors are hopeful that a political shift could lead to changes in the country's regulatory environment and open the way to access the largely untapped lithium resources.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reveals one thing that could make him run for 2028 presidency
Despite ruling out a run for the White House in 2028, Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban has revealed the one thing that would make him have a change of heart. Cuban has been pegged as one of the political outsiders with a possible chance at taking the White House in the 2028 election, alongside Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Oprah Winfrey, and Stephen A Smith. The 67-year-old stated Friday that a Presidential campaign would not interest him unless Donald Trump attempts to run for a third term as President. 'I'm not going to do it. I've said the only way I would do it is if Trump tried to run for a third term. Because then that's just changing everything, right? And that's a true threat,' Cuban said to Semafor. The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits anyone from holding a third Presidential term, with some Republicans wanting to challenge that to keep Trump installed. Trump himself has hinted that Vice President JD Vance is the heir to his place atop the Republican party, with some of the President's statements muddying the waters as to what he believes his political future is. Cuban sold his majority share of the Mavericks and left his full-time role as an investor on the popular television show 'Shark Tank' to spend more time with his children. A run for President, much less moving into the White House, would completely go against his wishes. Cuban's three kids are between the ages of 15 and 21, and wants to avoid the 'grief and abuse' that comes along with the spotlight of their father running to run America. 'When I'm 95 and taking - or 105 and taking my last breaths, right? I don't want to say, "Well, gee, I ran for president. Maybe won, maybe didn't,"' Cuban added. Cuban said he favors entrepreneur Scott Galloway, late-night host Jon Stewart and Texas state representative James Talarico, who has come into a national spotlight in recent weeks in defiance of Trump, as the 2028 Democratic candidate for President.
Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Telegraph
Dawn Butler: I'll stand to be next Labour Mayor of London
Dawn Butler has announced that she will stand to become the next Labour Mayor of London. The MP for Brent East said she would 'pop my hat in the ring' as soon as Sir Sadiq Khan stood down. Sir Sadiq won an unprecedented third term in City Hall last year but is not currently expected to stand at a fourth mayoral election. Ms Butler is on the Left of the party and served in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet as the shadow equalities secretary from 2017 to 2020. She has been no stranger to controversy since returning to the back benches, and Sir Keir Starmer faced calls to suspend her last year over a social media post she shared about Kemi Badenoch. In an episode of The Mirror's web series Party Games, in which politicians take part in a number of light-hearted games, Ms Butler was asked if she would rather be prime minister or mayor of London She replied: 'London mayor, to represent London. I'm a Londoner through and through, born in east London. 'Just having London the way I have experienced it and seen it and just making London wonderful for everyone and everyone being proud of London and being a Londoner… Yeah, I'd love to be a mayor of London.' When pressed to confirm that she would run in the next mayoral election, Ms Butler said: 'Once there's a vacancy, I will pop my hat in the ring.' There has been speculation that Idris Elba, the actor and knife crime campaigner, and Deborah Meaden, the entrepreneur and star of Dragon's Den, are also interested in becoming Labour's next mayoral hopeful. Sir Sadiq was comfortably re-elected last year after seeing off Susan Hall, his Conservative challenger, with 43.9 per cent of the vote to Ms Hall's 32.7 per cent. The election was the first to use the first past the post system, meaning Londoners can only vote for one mayoral candidate and the candidate who gets the most votes is declared the winner. In November, Sir Keir refused to remove the whip from Ms Butler after she shared a social media post accusing Kemi Badenoch of representing ' white supremacy in blackface '. Ms Butler had reposted comments on X, which she would go on to remove, that also referred to Mrs Badenoch's election as the Conservative Party leader as a 'victory for racism'. The post shared by Ms Butler was written by Nels Abbey, a Nigerian journalist, and offered 'tips for surviving the immediate surge of Badenochism (i.e. white supremacy in blackface)'. 'Abhorrent' Labour sources noted the post had quickly been taken down and pointed to Sir Keir's remarks that Mrs Badenoch becoming the first black leader of a British party was 'a proud moment for our country'. The Prime Minister later said Ms Butler 'shouldn't have said what she did' as he faced demands to strip her of the whip over the 'abhorrent' remarks. The row came months after Ms Butler had agreed with the actor David Tennant that Mrs Badenoch should 'shut up' because of her views on women's rights. Mrs Badenoch has been a key voice in the trans debate, asserting the importance of biological sex and insisting that biological males should not be allowed to access female spaces. In a speech at the British LGBT Awards, Tennant said: 'Until we wake up and Kemi Badenoch doesn't exist any more – I don't wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up – whilst we do live in this world, I am honoured to receive this [award].' At the height of a backlash to Tennant's remarks, Ms Butler said: 'Not all black women think the same. I agree with David Tennant. That's it, that's the tweet.' In April 2024, she admitted that she 'may have misled' the House of Commons by quoting a briefing issued by Stonewall in response to the Cass Review. Ms Butler claimed in a debate that 'over 100 studies' were excluded from the landmark report into gender identity services by Dr Hilary Cass, a paediatric consultant. But Dr Cass clarified that researchers examined a total of 103 papers, which eventually included the 60 datasets that were deemed to be high or medium quality.
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Zack Polanski pulling away in race to be party leader, senior Greens believe
Zack Polanski, the insurgent candidate for Green party leader whose 'eco-populism' and social media savvy have upended the race, is starting to pull away from his more-established rivals, senior figures believe. There is a growing expectation that the election will be won by the 42-year-old former Liberal Democrat, who appears to have seized the initiative from his opponents. One likened it to a 'hostile takeover'. The comment relates to an apparent influx of new left-leaning members in local areas, attracted by his modern communications method and more pugnacious style. It has left his nearest opponents, Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, struggling to gain traction despite their head start in terms of profile within the party. Voting by members continues throughout August, and without any interim polling any views are necessarily anecdotal. But a series of Green politicians, speaking anonymously, say Polanski is making waves with the grassroots. Ramsay and Chowns are largely seen as the choice of the party establishment, including the former leader Caroline Lucas, but Polanksi has also picked up endorsements. One of his backers is Caroline Russell, the Green leader on the London assembly, where he also sits. Russell said in a statement that while she was a big admirer of the other pair, Polanksi had 'shown how well he connects with people and with the media, gaining serious air time for the Greens'. 'I'm off the fence,' she said. Allies of Ramsay, who is currently co-leader with another of the party's MPs, Carla Denyer, say the race is much closer, and that many longer-standing members who are not active on social media could turn out to push it the other way. One thing does, however, seem certain. The race to lead the Greens in England and Wales has been unusually – if only occasionally – rancorous, particularly given it is a position with little power and that for complex procedural reasons the term will only last for a year. Allies of Ramsay and Chowns, both among the party's record haul of four MPs elected last year, say the pair have faced a 'concerted and sometimes horrible' online response from Polanski supporters, something his allies dispute. For Polanski's part, he was visibly upset after Ramsay refused to say whether he liked his opponent during a recent joint radio interview. The tension is in part a factor of the higher-than-usual stakes, given the Greens' possibly pivotal role at the next election. But it is also a reflection of the very differing approaches the candidates offer. Ramsay and Chowns promise a continued focus on gradually winning more council and parliamentary seats, while Polanski says he also wants to make the Greens a mass-membership 'eco-populism' movement that creates headlines as effectively as Nigel Farage and Reform. One senior party member said some opponents were upset by the way that Polanski, who joined the Greens only in 2017, took the party hierarchy by surprise in launching his leadership bid in May through a Guardian interview. 'It feels a bit like a hostile takeover of the party,' they said. 'No one knew he was planning this, and suddenly there are all these new members who tend to feel very much from the left.' This is by no means a consensus view. One Green councillor said they had been cheered by the seeming injection of energy and new activists inspired by Polanski in their local branch. 'He's clearly a fantastic communicator and knows how to pitch his vision,' they said. 'I think Zack is doing really well.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Some Polanski supporters express frustration with what they see as the overly cautious approach of the current leadership, arguing that the party must seize an unprecedented opportunity in British politics. But Ramsay and Chowns have openly expressed scepticism at what they see as Polanski's polarising and simplistic approach, arguing that his more overtly left-leaning stance – he has said he could be open to working with the new party co-led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana – are likely to put off more moderate voters. Polanski lives in north-east London and is expected to try to stand for a seat there, while Ramsay and Chowns won largely rural, Conservative-facing seats last July, in East Anglia and Herefordshire respectively. They say Polanski would be unlikely to appeal in such areas. Ramsay, who was first elected as a Green councillor 22 years ago at the age of 21, said he and Chowns were 'really excited by the conversations we're having with party members around the country', and that a lot of them had expressed pride at what had been achieved in building up the number of councillors and MPs. 'Particularly, I think, people can see that the broad appeal we have developed in recent years. We have pulled ourselves out of the wilderness,' he said. 'We've got to keep our appeal broad.' He predicted the election result would hinge on the turnout. 'I would urge party members to vote, because the higher the turnout, the more we can be confident the result reflects what party members want,' he said. 'And that's what matters in an election.' Polanski said he was 'confident but not complacent' about the contest so far. 'I've been overwhelmed by the positive response my campaign has been getting from the public online, along with countless longstanding members at hustings and regional visits up and down the country,' he said. 'But none of this enthusiasm and support counts for anything if people don't turn out to vote.'
