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Bolivia's Vote a High-Stakes Presidential Redo Amid Pandemic

Associated Press

   LA PAZ - Bolivians vote Sunday in a high-stakes presidential election
   redo that could determine its democratic future and bring a return of
   socialism to the country as it struggles with a raging pandemic and
   protests over last year's annulled ballot.

   Bolivia, once one of the most politically volatile countries in Latin
   America, experienced a rare period of stability under former President
   Evo Morales, the country's first Indigenous president who resigned and
   fled the country late last year after his claimed election win was
   annulled amid allegations of fraud. His ouster set off a period of
   unrest that caused at least 36 deaths. Morales called his ouster a
   coup.

   Sunday's vote is a rerun of last year's election and an attempt to
   reset Bolivia's democracy.

   "Bolivia's new executive and legislative leaders will face daunting
   challenges in a polarized country, ravaged by COVID-19, and hampered by
   endemically weak institutions," said WOLA, a Washington-based human
   rights advocacy organization.

   U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Bolivians to respect
   the electoral process, and in particular the final result.

   Ballots, ballot boxes and other materials were delivered to polling
   stations Saturday by police and military units without incident,
   officials said. Police and soldiers took to the streets hours later
   seeking to ensure calm.

   The country's Supreme Electoral Court announced late Saturday that it
   had decided unanimously against reporting running preliminary vote
   totals as ballots are counted. It said it wanted to avoid the
   uncertainty that arose when there was a long halt in reporting
   preliminary results during last year's election.

   Council President Salvador Romero said promised a safe and transparent
   official count, which could take five days.

   To win in the first round, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote,
   or 40% with a lead of at least 10 percentage points over the
   second-place candidate. A runoff vote, if necessary, would be held Nov.
   28.

   Bolivia's entire 136-member Legislative Assembly also will be voted in.

   The election was postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic.
   On a per capita basis, few countries have been hit harder than
   impoverished, landlocked Bolivia: Nearly 8,400 of its 11.6 million
   people have died of COVID-19.

   The election will occur with physical distancing required between
   masked voters-- at least officially, if not in practice.

   The leading contenders are former Economy Minister Luis Arce, who led
   an extended boom under Morales, and former President Carlos Mesa. a
   centrist historian and journalist who was second to Morales in the
   disputed returns released after last year's vote. Trailing in all the
   polls has been Luis Fernando Camacho, a conservative businessman who
   helped lead last year's uprising, as well as a Korean-born evangelist.

   Overshadowing the vote is the absence of Morales, who led Bolivia from
   2006 until 2019 and was a key figure in the bloc of leftist leaders who
   held power across much of South America.

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