Bolivian General Election (October 12, 2014)

[Velasco]

Count progress (95.49%):

MAS 60.89%, UD 24.49%, PDC 9.13%, MSM 2.77%, PVB 2.73%.

Other two departments at 100%.

Potosí: MAS 69.49%, UD 18.92%, PDC 5.99%, PVB 3%, MSM 2.6%.

Beni: UD 51.44%, MAS 41.49%, PDC 4.36%, MSM 1.44%, PVB 1.27%.

On the Bolivia's economic performance:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/world/americas/turnabout-in-bolivia-as-economy-rises-from-instability.html?_r=0

[Velasco]

The TSE apologised for the delay in the count and for having promised its completion the day following the elections. TSE chairwoman attributed the delay to a "system failure" and stated that they have tallied the results as quick as it was possible.

Opposition parties united to denounce alleged fraud and manipulation, asking for the renunciation of the resignation of TSE members and for transparency in the publishing of ballot box reports, which weren't upload to the TSE website due their "excessive weight". The chairman of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) called the population to join the protests against the delay and the irregularities. Morón thinks that the TSE is trying to reconcile the result in order that MAS gets 2/3 of the Plurinatinonal Legislative Assembly. The MNR is an historical nationalist party founded by Víctor Paz Estenssoro which support has been dropping since the 2000s. If I'm not wrong, MNR is nowadays part of the Democratic Unity (UD).

Criticism of the TSE includes the MAS. The presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, Marcelo Elío and Eugenio Rojas, announced that they are going to activate "legislative mechanisms" in order to evaluate the performance of the TSE, given the constant denunciations of alleged fraud and the delay. Elío suggests that the TSE seems to be "eager to undermine a consolidated result". "It's the first time that MAS wins in 8 departments and they want to undermine us to favour the opposition", said Elío, who questions the confidence that may have the TSE members in the next subnational elections which will be held in the first quarter of 2015. Elío denied pressure from MAS to the TSE, in order that the government party gets 2/3. On the other hand, Eugenio Rojas claims that there are "political interests" behind the opposition denunciations.

Count progress (96.5%): MAS 60.97%, UD 24.39%, PDC 9.14%, MSM 2.78%, PVB 2.73%.

[Velasco]

TSE proclaims Evo Morales president elect with the count almost completed.

Count progress (99.82%):

MAS 61.04%, UD 24.49%, PDC 9.07%, MSM 2.72%, PVB 2.69%

The remaining 0.18% correspond to 5 polling stations in Oruro and 44 in Santa Cruz which are going to repeat the vote on October 26. The MAS will get at least 25 senators out of 36 and has big chances of getting 2/3 of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. MSM and PVB don't reach 3% and lose legal personality.

La Paz (100%): MAS 68.92%, UD 14.75%, PDC 7.72%, PVB 4.63%, MSM 3.98%.

Oruro (99.65%): MAS 66.41%, UD 14.36%, PDC 11.74%, MSM 4.34%, PVB 3.14%

Santa Cruz (99.36%): MAS 49.01%, UD 39.79%, PDC 8.19%, PVB 1.54%, MSM 1.47%

Overseas votes: MAS 72.29%, UD 15.4%, PDC 8.17%, PVB 2.68%, MSM 1.4%

In the neighbouring Brazil, president Dilma Rousseff accused her rival Aécio Neves of being "too hard with Bolivia and too soft with the USA". Dilma's advisor on foreign policy Marco Aurelio Garcia stated that he felt "disturbed" for the fate of Latin America in the eventuality of a Neves administration. Garcia says that PSDB has an "adventurer" policy for Latin America and hopes that Brazilian people prevents that the region gets "reduced to dust".

[Velasco]

MAS secures 2/3 of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly after winning a single-member district  in the Santa Cruz department. Vote was repeated in 44 polling stations located in the district nº 56, where MAS was taking the lead with 48.72% of the vote followed by the UD with 46.58% (the margin was something less than 1300 votes). At 100% of the count MAS gets 48.99%.   

According to El Deber, the MAS gets 87 deputies and 25 senators, totalling 112 seats. The 2/3 majority allows the MAS to implement structural constitutional changes.

In another news, the newspaper stresses that 48% of the seats will be held by women (15 senators and 65 deputies). Gender quota by party in the senate (in brackets, total seats): MAS 11 (25), UD 4 (9), PDC 0 (2). In the Chamber of Deputies, before the ruling party won an additional seat: MAS 43 (86), UD 18 (33) and PDC 4 (11).

Single-member districts ("uninominal deputies").

Chuquisaca (districts 1-5): PDC 1 (1), MAS 4.

La Paz (6-19): MAS 14.

Cochabamba (20-28): UD 1 (20), MAS 8.

Oruro (29-32): MAS 4.

Potosí (33-39): UD 1 (33), MAS 6.

Tarija (40-43): MAS 2 (40 and 42), UD 1 (43), PDC 1 (41).

Santa Cruz (44-57): UD 6 (44, 45, 46, 47, 51, 54 ), MAS 8 (48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57).

Beni (58-61): UD 3 (58, 60, 61), MAS 1 (59).

Pando (62-63): MAS 2.

Total: MAS 49, UD 12, PDC 2.

Special Indigenous /Campesino constituencies: MAS 6 (La Paz, Cochabamba, Tarija, Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando), UD 1 (Oruro).

[Velasco]

The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) released the official results yesterday, with the count at 100%.

MAS 61.36%, UD 24.23%, PDC 9.04%, MSM 2.71%, PVB 2.65%


The results strengthen the majority of the Evo Morales party in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. MAS finally gets 113 out of 166 seats, a supermajority which allows Morales to legislate without the opposition. The delay in the proclamation of results has raised criticism on the TSE inside Bolivia, as well from the OAS. After the disclosure, representatives from the UD, the PDC and the PVB accused the TSE of having prepared an "assisted victory", in order that the ruling party could get more than 2/3 of the seats in the Assembly. Opposition parties alleged irregularities in regional counting. The Movement Without Fear (MSM) and the Green Party (PVB) claimed having won 1 deputy each; however, neither of them reached the 3% threshold required by the electoral legislation to get parliamentary representation.

Senate: MAS 25, UD 9, PDC 2.

Chamber of Deputies: MAS 88, UD 32, PDC 10

Breakdown by department in a graph following this link:

http://www.eldeber.com.bo/bolivia/mas-logra-santa-cruz-15.html

Here, an article by two Argentinian academicians (in Spanish) on the political representation in Bolivia, explaining the changes from the former National Congress to the present Plurinational Legislative Assembly:

http://www.condistintosacentos.com/la-representacion-politica-en-bolivia-del-congreso-nacional-a-la-asamblea-plurinacional/