Elections in Bolivia: the ballot box reveals the …

Just over seven million Bolivians voted in provincial and municipal elections in Bolivia in a climate of relative tranquility despite the pandemic and only six months after the presidential elections which marked the return to power of the Movement for Socialism (MAS). According to the latest polls, the exit of the consulting firm Ciesmori confirmed that the opposition would remain with the strategic mayors of Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, La Paz and El Alto, the latter in the hands of the former president of the Senate, Eva Copa. Agrupación Jallalla’s candidate separated from the MAS revealed the stage of changes and internal debates that the party is going through.

At the level of the main governorates, the party of Evo Morales can celebrate a resounding victory in the department of Cochabamba and a closer one in La Paz, where his candidate Franklin Flores would not avoid a second round. As expected, Luis Fernando Camacho would sweep in Santa Cruz and, close the bloc of coup candidates, the ex-de facto president would have a poor performance in the department of Beni, where she would barely reach a third place.

The official results will only be known in 8 to 10 days, while the Supreme Electoral Tribunal was preparing to download the first data of the count as of Monday morning. The lack of juries at polling stations delayed the opening of several polling stations in different parts of the country for hours, generating long queues of citizens. Even President Luis Arce himself had to wait before voting.

In the department of La Paz, polls that predicted a technical triple draw among the gubernatorial candidates appear to have been frustrated. MAS candidate Franklin Flores would reach a comfortable first place with 37.3% of the vote, always according to the release of Ciesmori. He is followed at 27.1 percent by Jallalla Agrupation candidate Santos Quispe, son of the recently deceased Felipe “El Mallku” Quispe, who until his death was the favorite to stay with the governor. In third place appears Rafael “Tata” Quispe, front candidate For the common good – We are people, with 22.1%. These results would not prevent a second round, although it remains to be seen who will accompany the candidate of the ruling party in this case.

The exit door further reveals that the candidate We believe, Luis Fernando Camacho, would have enough advantage to become governor of Santa Cruz without needing a second round. One of the main culprits in the police and military mutiny that culminated in the coup against Evo Morales is reportedly reaching 55.4% of intention to vote, far from MAS candidate Mario Cronenbold at 34.3%. Finally among the main departments of the country, In Cochabamba, the MAS would ensure a clear victory with the former mayor of Sacaba Humberto Sánchez exceeding 50% of the vote.

As for the mayors, In Santa Cruz, Gary Áñez, candidate of the citizen community, is ranked first with 32.9% of the vote. Stuck in second place was Johnny Fernández, of Unidad Cívica Solidaridad, with 31.9 percent, which heralds a second round between the two since outside and in third place was the MAS candidate, former senator Adriana Salvatierra.

The city of Cochabamba will remain for the former captain of the armed forces, Manfred Reyes Villa, with 56.8% of the vote. His candidacy was questioned until the last moment for a final judgment in the event of breach of the duties of a public official. Former Ombudsman Nelson Cox was far behind at 23.3%.

The town hall of La Paz would go to Iván Arias, Minister of Public Works under the de facto government of Jeanine Áñez, who reached 48% of the vote at the exit. Far was the masist candidate César Dockweiler, director of the public cable car company until his resignation after the 2019 coup. In the coveted city of El Alto, victory would go to Jallalla group candidate Eva Copa. After a scandalous break with the MAS, the Copa would win 67% of the vote against 22% distant for the ruling Zacarías Maquera party.