#Elections: #Bolivia Returns to the Ballot Box to Elect Governors and Mayors
Bolivia Today ©
Bolivians are at it again. They are heading to the ballot boxes this Sunday, March 7, for a second time in 6 months to elect what they call, sub-national authorities, i.e. departmental, regional and municipal political authorities in the nine departments and the 336 municipalities, as well as in the autonomous government of the Gran Chaco region of Tarija.
This is the third time, since the adoption of the 2009 Political Constitution that these elections have been held. The first was in 2010 and the second, in 2015.
1. Governors for the nine Autonomous Departmental Governments; Vice (Deputy) Governors for the departments of Santa Cruz, Tarija and Pando; Deputy Governors and Corregidores (Under-Deputy Governors) of the Department of Beni; Departmental Assembly members by territory and population of the nine departments, and Departmental Assembly members by own rules and procedures.
2. Regional Executive, Development Executives and Regional Assembly members of the Regional Autonomous Government of the Gran Chaco.
3. Mayors and Councilors of the Autonomous Municipal Councils.
This time around citizens will mark the ballot more times for a political option of their preference (up to nine times in the municipalities of Villamontes and Caraparí in the Gran Chaco, Tarija region) and will elect, at the same time, the largest number of representatives. As a whole, at the national level, 4,962 political authorities will be elected, 583 from the departmental level, 27 from the regional level and 4,352 authorities from the municipal level, between incumbents and alternates.
As shown in the table below, in this election there will be 25 indigenous seats for representatives to the departmental assemblies and 3 indigenous seats for representatives to the Gran Chaco Regional Assembly. The department of Potosí does not have indigenous seats.
The poll numbers leave a lot to be desired. There was only one company conducting polls, Ciesmori, and it only polled in three departments, La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.
Observing the task that it would mean to provide polls for all the races, even if it is only of the nine departments and the nine capital cities, it would be a lot. However, it would be necessary!
How will they be elected?
The reference for this part are the electoral law and the different regulations issued by the TSE, for this particular election.
Department and Regional governments
Governors and deputy governors are elected in a single departmental constituency by absolute majority of valid votes cast (50% plus one) or a minimum of 40% of valid votes cast, with a difference of 10% in relation to the second most voted candidacy.
Otherwise, a second electoral round will be held between the two most voted candidates. The deputy governors and magistrates of the department of Beni are elected by a simple majority of votes. The same happens with the Regional Executive and the Development Executives of the Gran Chaco.
Departmental Assemblies
For the departmental assemblies of Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Potosí and Beni:
● by territory: one is elected in each province, by a simple majority of votes.
● by population: they are elected in a departmental constituency, using the proportional system (except in Beni, where departmental assembly members are not elected by population).
● Indigenous/Originary/Campesino districts (IOC): they are elected by their own rules and procedures.
For the departmental assembly of Pando:
● by territory: one assembly member is elected for each municipality (15) by simple majority.
● by population: two are elected in the province with the largest population of the department (Nicolás Suarez), using the proportional system according to the number of votes obtained by each political organization. An assembly member is elected in the second province with the largest population (Madre de Dios) in the department, according to the latest national census. In this case, they are elected by a simple majority of votes.
● IOC: they are elected by their own rules and procedures.
For the departmental assembly of Tarija:
● by territory: two are elected per province or region, and the proportional system is applied according to the number of votes obtained by each political organization.
● by population: the simple majority election and the allocation by the proportional system.
● IOCs are chosen by own rules and procedures.
For the departmental assembly of Santa Cruz:
● by territory: It is elected by a simple majority of votes, one in each province.
● by population: They are elected in a departmental constituency, by the proportional system according to the number of votes obtained by each political organization.
● IOCs are chosen by own rules and procedures.
Regional Assembly of Gran Chaco:
● by territory: two are elected for each municipality and the proportional system is applied.
● by population: one assembly member is elected for each municipality with a population of less than 140,000 inhabitants, if greater than the latter, 2 Assembly members are elected, in both cases by a simple majority of votes.
● IOC: they are elected by their own rules and procedures.
Autonomous Municipal Governments
The mayors are elected by municipal constituency by simple majority of votes and there is no second round. Municipal Council members are elected according to municipal plurinominal constituencies through the proportional system. The number of members of a Council varies according to the municipality, those that are capitals are made up of 11, intermediate cities are made up of 9 to 7, and smaller municipalities are made up of 5.
List of parties/organizations/groups/alliances
Below you will find a, what I take to be, comprehensive list of all "political organizations" (as Bolivians call the different alliances, parties, social movements and interest groups taking part in the elections) registered with the TSE, differentiated according to whether the alliance is active at the national level or its activities concentrate on the regional (i.e. department) or local (i.e. municipal).
A not comprehensive list of the alliances is in the table together with some translations into English.
Those alliances and parties with a national reach:
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| Source: TSE website. Click on the image to see a larger, more readable version. |
Those alliances with a regional and local reach:
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| Source: TSE website. Click on the image to see a larger, more readable version. |
The list for La Paz includes El Alto.
List with some translations
Tags: #eleccionessubnacionales2021, #bolivianelections2021, #elecciones2021, #bolivia, #p7informa,
