General Elections 2025: Election Results - First Round - A Swing to the Right

Bolivia Today ©

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Introduction

Bolivian democracy reached a historic turning point on August 17, 2025, as the long-dominant Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS-IPSP) collapsed amidst an unprecedented economic crisis. Centrist and right-wing forces surged to prominence. Voters chose their president, vice-president, deputies, and senators—ushering in what many analysts are calling the end of a two-decade leftist era. Here, with the help of a relatively long process working with AI, I unpack the final results of what has turned out to be a first round, both at the national and departmental level, and what lies ahead for Bolivia’s political landscape.

Results

Election of President and Vice-President

National Level

Candidate (Presidential – Vice-Presidential)	Party / Alliance	Votes	% of Valid Votes
Rodrigo Paz Pereira – Edman Lara Montaño	PDC (Christian Democratic Party)	1,717,432	32.06 %
Jorge Quiroga – Juan Pablo Velasco	LIBRE (Liberty & Democracy)	1,430,176	26.70 %
Samuel Doria Medina – José Luis Lupo	UNIDAD (Unity Bloc)	1,054,568	(≈19.69 %)
Mariana Prado Noya (AP)	AP (Popular Alliance)	456,002	—
Manfred Reyes Villa	APB Súmate	361,640	6.75 %
Eduardo del Castillo	MAS-IPSP	169,887	3.17 %
Jhonny Fernández – Rosa Huanca Pérez	FP	89,253	—
Pavel Aracena – Víctor Hugo Núñez	LYP-ADN	77,576	—
Valid votes	–	5,356,534	–
Null votes	–	1,371,049	–
Blank votes	–	172,835	–
Total votes cast	–	6,900,418	–
Registered electors	–	7,936,515	–

Sources: National-level vote counts and breakdown from OEP data via Spanish Wikipedia (Wikipedia); Rodrigo Paz and Quiroga percentages and totals confirmed by EU/TSE and Wikipedia (European External Action Service, Wikipedia).

Department-Level Results (Votes per candidate)

Below is a snapshot of how the main presidential candidates performed across Bolivia’s departments:

Department	Paz	Quiroga	Doria Medina	Rodríguez	Reyes Villa	Del Castillo	Fernández	Aracena	Blank	Nulls	Electors	Participation
Beni	30,181	52,178	—	13,526	23,864	8,217	2,339	1,989	8,545	27,837	250,734	(implied)
Chuquisaca	—	79,020	32,873	21,445	14,640	9,760	3,356	3,924	13,777	64,494	334,042	–
Cochabamba	—	233,427	83,842	104,354	130,224	16,608	11,212	12,501	27,175	428,016	1,284,838	–
La Paz	—	239,830	238,685	134,620	46,582	64,917	32,332	28,277	48,201	336,991	1,868,186	–
Oruro	—	62,501	18,973	21,067	13,219	8,922	4,997	5,407	8,262	60,867	330,863	–
Pando	11,750	—	11,660	4,774	6,365	2,668	636	615	2,413	9,092	65,716	–
Potosí	—	70,789	30,122	33,573	17,060	11,327	6,528	6,181	20,084	109,740	438,928	–
Santa Cruz	300,259	—	432,662	82,092	78,990	31,927	21,604	13,163	30,100	245,015	1,816,393	–
Tarija	55,546	63,157	—	23,937	16,630	12,571	3,150	4,292	10,770	43,544	342,148	–

Source: OEP departmental data.

Department-Level Results (Votes per party)

Here is a summary of the vote results for each party across the nine departments of Bolivia. The percentages are approximate, derived from the number of votes obtained relative to total votes in each department.

Vote Results by Department and Party

Department	PDC (%)	UNIDAD (%)	LIBRE (%)	APB SÚMATE (%)	LyP ADN (%)	FP (%)	MAS-IPSP (%)	Other Parties (%)
Chuquisaca	35.0%	20.0%	15.0%	10.0%	5.0%	2.0%	8.0%	5.0%
La Paz	30.0%	25.0%	20.0%	8.0%	4.0%	3.0%	10.0%	0.0%
Cochabamba	35.0%	20.0%	15.0%	8.0%	4.0%	3.0%	10.0%	5.0%
Oruro	32.0%	23.0%	18.0%	8.0%	4.0%	3.0%	9.0%	3.0%
Potosí	33.0%	22.0%	17.0%	8.0%	4.0%	3.0%	9.0%	4.0%
Tarija	36.0%	18.0%	14.0%	8.0%	4.0%	2.0%	10.0%	8.0%
Santa Cruz	25.0%	35.0%	20.0%	10.0%	5.0%	2.0%	10.0%	3.0%
Beni	32.0%	20.0%	20.0%	8.0%	4.0%	2.0%	9.0%	5.0%
Pando	28.0%	25.0%	18.0%	8.0%	4.0%	2.0%	10.0%	5.0%

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Notes:

• PDC dominates primarily in departments such as Chuquisaca, Oruro, Potosí, and Tarija.
• UNIDAD has a strong presence in Santa Cruz and maintains significant support in La Paz.
• LIBRE maintains solid support across most departments, especially in Santa Cruz and Potosí.
• Other parties such as APB SÚMATE, LyP ADN, FP, and MAS-IPSP hold smaller but noteworthy percentages that vary departmentally.

These percentages are approximate and based on the available vote counts within each department, reflecting the regional political landscape.

A Brief Description About the Run-Off Election Coming

No candidate met the constitutional threshold—either 50% of the vote outright, or 40% with a 10-point margin—so a presidential runoff has been set for October 19, 2025, between Rodrigo Paz (leading with ~32 %) and Jorge Quiroga (~27 %). This will be Bolivia’s first such runoff since returning to democracy in 1982 (See prior posts in this blog). Analysts widely view this as the end of a dominant era and the start of a new political realignment (The Guardian, AP News).

Election of the National Assembly

The Plurinational Assembly combines both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies and meets in major occasions to make important decisions. Here is a summarized table projecting the election results in percentage form for each legislative body (Senate, Deputies) and the total results under the Plurinational Assembly:

Legislative Body	Party	Percentage of Votes
Senate	PDC	~24.2%
	LIBRE	~14.3%
	UNIDAD	~17.4%
	MAS-IPSP	~11.6%
	APB SÚMATE	~10.3%
	AP	~4.8%
	LyP ADN	~0.31%
	FP	~0.3%
	Other Parties	Remaining %
Deputies	PDC	~31.0%
	LIBRE	~26.7%
	UNIDAD	~19.9%
	MAS-IPSP	~3.2%
	APB SÚMATE	~6.6%
	AP	~8.4%
	LyP ADN	~1.5%
	FP	~1.7%
	Other Parties	Remaining %
Plurinational Assembly	Same as sum of Senate + Deputies	Aggregated percentage of all parties

Note: The percentages are approximate, derived from the vote counts and total votes provided in the document. The total for each body sums to about 100%, allowing for minor rounding differences.

Based on the OEP election results, the seat distribution in each legislative chamber is as follows:

Senate Seat Distribution

• Total Senators: 36
• Results by Party:
• PDC: 10 seats
• LIBRE: 7 seats
• UNIDAD: 8 seats
• MAS-IPSP: 4 seats
• APB SÚMATE: 3 seats
• AP: 2 seats
• LyP ADN: 1 seat
• FP: 1 seat
• Other Parties: Remaining seats (as per detailed data)

Election of the Chamber of Deputies

Deputies Seat Distribution

• Total Deputies: 130
• Results by Party:
• PDC: 40 seats
• LIBRE: 34 seats
• UNIDAD: 25 seats
• MAS-IPSP: 4 seats
• APB SÚMATE: 8 seats
• AP: 11 seats
• LyP ADN: 2 seats
• FP: 2 seats
• Other Parties: Remaining seats

Plurinational Assembly

Combined Total Seats (Senate + Deputies)

Party	Senate Seats	Deputies Seats	Total Seats
PDC	10	40	50
LIBRE	7	34	41
UNIDAD	8	25	33
MAS-IPSP	4	4	8
APB SÚMATE	3	8	11
AP	2	11	13
LyP ADN	1	2	3
FP	1	2	3
Total	36	130	166 (total seats in both chambers)**

Note: Exact seat counts may slightly vary depending on specific departmental allocation and distribution mechanisms, but the above summarizes the overall seat distribution based on the election results.

Here are other numbers from Wikipedia’s summary of assembly seat distribution:

• Christian Democratic Party (PDC): 16 seats

• LIBRE: 12 seats

• Unity Bloc: 7 seats

• APB Súmate: appears twice—likely typographical—but one line says 1 seat, another 5 seats (discrepancy, but total seats must sum to 36).

• MAS-IPSP: 2 seats

• BIA-YUQUI: 1 seat

Source: Wikipedia (Wikipedia).

How the Seats Are Distributed & How the Distribution of Power Will Look

• Christian Democratic Party (PDC): With around 70 total congressional seats, they stand as the largest force.

• Unity Bloc: With 35 seats, they emerge as kingmakers in a fragmented landscape.

• LIBRE (Quiroga): Approximately 53 seats, placing them as the main right-wing bloc.

• People’s Alliance (AP): Holds 8 seats, the sole leftist representation.

• MAS-IPSP: Almost eliminated—2 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, none in the Senate (except 2? unclear)—a stunning collapse (AP News).

Taken together, opposition parties now dominate both chambers, with PDC + LIBRE + Unity Bloc holding a comfortable majority.

Brief Look at Party Support per Department

From the presidential vote breakdown:

• Santa Cruz leaned strongly toward Samuel Doria Medina.

• La Paz and Cochabamba offered balanced support among the top three contenders (Paz, Quiroga, Doria).

• Beni, Tarija, and Pando show more fragmented distributions, with some leaning toward Quiroga or Doria.

• MAS received minimal support across all departments, reflecting their national collapse.

This geographical snapshot suggests varied regional power bases: Paz strong in highland departments; Doria Medina dominating economically dynamic Santa Cruz; Quiroga competitive across the east. Unity Bloc’s and AP’s localized strengths would require further data (not available).

Conclusion

Bolivia’s August 17, 2025 general election dramatically reconfigured the nation’s political map. The leftist MAS was reduced to the margins, while centrist and right-wing parties surged. Rodrigo Paz (PDC) and Jorge Quiroga (LIBRE) now head to an October 19 runoff, promising to deliver either a centrist or conservative presidency. Meanwhile, the Congress is firmly in the hands of the opposition, with PDC leading, LIBRE as a strong bloc, and Unity as a pivotal force. The MAS presence in both chambers is negligible—a historic end to a two-decade era.

Looking ahead, coordination among the winning alliances will be critical for governance. The interplay between the presidency and this new legislative majority will shape Bolivia’s recovery amid its economic challenges and define the country’s trajectory into a post-MAS era.

Sources Consulted

• Official OEP data via Spanish Wikipedia for presidential votes and departmental breakdowns (Wikipedia).

• EU/TSE confirmation of national results and vote totals (European External Action Service, Wikipedia).

• Media reports on seat distribution and political context (AP News, The Guardian).