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In the presidential election, since none of the candidates secured an outright victory, a second round will take place on 19 October 2025 between Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira and former president Jorge Quiroga. The result was described as a "stunning blow" to MAS-IPSP, which had dominated the country's politics for 20 years.[1]
The election was held amid a schism within the ruling Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) between incumbent president Luis Arce and former president Evo Morales. The former allies fell out following Arce's election in 2020, when Morales, who had been in exile following political unrest caused by his reelection bid in 2019, returned and tried to regain control of the party's leadership.[2] In late 2024 and early 2025, shortages of essential goods – including gasoline, diesel, basic foodstuffs and medicine – caused further dissatisfaction with the Arce government.[3][4] Evo Morales called for his supporters to boycott the vote in reaction to the state not allowing him to participate in the elections. Based in a rural compound guarded by supporters,[5] he has promised to mobilize his supporters and "give battle on the streets" if a right-wing candidate wins the election.[6] Right-wing figures like Jorge Quiroga have also promised to arrest Morales if they win, which resulted in rural coca unions like the Six Federations pledging to wage a guerrilla war in support of Morales if they attempt to do so.[7]
Right-leaning political parties formed a Unity Bloc to oppose Arce; its candidates included Samuel Doria Medina and Jorge Quiroga. Morales announced his intention to run as the candidate of the Front for Victory (FPV) despite a ban on him running again for president by the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal.[8] The government responded by deregistering the FPV, citing its failure to meet the mandatory 3% threshold in the previous election.[9]
On 14 May 2025, President Arce announced that he would not seek a second term.[10][11] Government minister Eduardo Del Castillo was nominated by MAS in his place. On 16 May, demonstrators attempting to register Morales as a candidate clashed with police in La Paz.[12][13]
For the 2025 election, around 7.9 million people are eligible to vote.[15]
The President of Bolivia is elected using a modified first-preference plurality system (a two-round system): a candidate is declared the winner if they receive more than 50% of the vote, or over 40% of the vote and are 10 percentage points ahead of their closest rival.[16] If neither condition is met, a run-off election is held between the two top candidates.[17]
The 130 members in the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) are elected using a seat linkage based mixed compensatory system using two votes: 63 deputies are elected by first-preference plurality to represent single-member electoral districts, 60 are elected by closed listparty-list proportional representation from party lists on a departmental basis (in districts of varying sizes corresponding to Bolivia's nine departments with a threshold of 3%).[18] The list seats in each region are awarded proportionally based on the vote for the presidential candidates, subtracting the number of single-member districts won (to provide mixed-member proportional representation). The remaining seven seats are reserved indigenous seats elected by the usos y costumbres. A voter can only vote in one of either the normal constituencies or special constituencies (coexistence).[19] Party lists are required to alternate between men and women, and in the single-member districts, men are required to run with a female alternate, and vice versa. At least 50% of the deputies from single-member districts are required to be women.
The Chamber of Senators (Cámara de Senadores) has 36 members, four from each the country's nine departments, which are also elected using closed party-lists, using the D'Hondt method.[19] The senate seats are also awarded based on the vote for president.
The election uses the same votes to elect the President (first round), the Chamber and the Senate, making it a double (triple) simultaneous vote. Voters may therefore not split their ticket between these elections, but they may vote for a candidate of a different list in the election of the Chamber as the deputies from the single-member districts are elected using separate votes.
Voting in Bolivia is compulsory for all adults over the age of 18. The voter is given a card when they have voted so that they can show proof of participation. The voter would not be able to receive their salary from the bank if they cannot show the proof of voting during three months after the election.[20] This can result in a relatively common occurrence of invalid ballots.[21] This is reflected in the percentages of blank/null votes under "would not vote" in the electoral surveys.
The following notable individuals were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy or declared their interest, but were declared ineligible by the TCP or were otherwise unable to run.
The election saw the first televised debate in 20 years following a ban imposed during Evo Morales's presidency. During a debate, Samuel Doria Medina accused Eduardo del Castillo of links to drug traffickers, while the latter criticized Doria Medina's previous electoral attempts to win the presidency. Andrónico Rodríguez and Jorge Quiroga clashed over alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings.[15]
Doria Medina pledged to cut spending,[39] seek rapprochement with the United States, insert controls on the foreign exchange rate, end fuel subsidies and resolve fuel shortages within 100 days of taking office as president, while pledging to comply with orders to arrest Evo Morales.[40] At the same time, Doria Medina also opposed cutting anti-poverty programs.[41]
Quiroga also pledged to have Morales arrested,[42] restore relations with Israel[43] and the United States and cut spending and fuel subsidies to combat the economic crisis.[44][39] He also pledged to close the Central Bank of Bolivia, accusing it of becoming a "credit card" for the Arce administration.[44] Quiroga also praised the libertarian economic policies of Argentine president Javier Milei and proposed the establishment of a "popular property title" valued at US$1,500 for every adult Bolivian, which could be used as collateral to secure loans.[43] He also proposed seeking a $12 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund and other multinational lenders to allow Bolivia to import fuel, among other financial measures, reduce corporate and sales taxes, offer companies guarantees of international arbitration, allow farmers greater access to credit, replace union-held land titles with individual, inheritable ownership rights, reduce state involvement in the gas and mining sectors to oversight roles, and transfer shares in Bolivia’s minerals industries from the government to individual citizens as part of what he called a "liberal ownership revolution". He also pledged to distance the country from Iran, withdraw its recognition of Nicolas Maduro as president of Venezuela,[45] and cancel lithium extraction agreements with Russia and China that were signed under the Arce administration.[46]
Both Doria Medina and Quiroga also supported partially reversing the nationalization of firms under the Morales presidency,[42] the dismantling of inefficient state-owned companies and the entry of foreign investors in mining Bolivia's lithium reserves.[44] Rodríguez also supported cutting fuel subsidies.[47]
Paz also supported creating tax incentives and cutting $1.2 billion in annual fuel subsidies.[46] He also criticized MAS and its economic policies, while opposing proposals by Doria Medina to open Bolivia's lithium mines to foreign investors and to request loans from the IMF.[48] He also pledged to establish a "50-50 economic model" in which the central government would manage half of all public funds and leave the remainder directly to regional governments, implement blockchain technology for greater transparency, and create a currency stabilization fund that would incorporate cryptocurrency assets amid their increased use to offset high inflation.[43]
Both Paz and Quiroga supported the use of carbon bonds, with Quiroga also expressing support for the expansion of biofuel production, sustainable agriculture and reforestation, while proposing the discontinuation of collective Indigenous land titles and expansion of soy and cattle production in eastern Bolivia. Paz also pledged to crack down on illegal gold mining and tightly regulate agriculture-related fires.[49]
Following his exclusion from the election, Evo Morales warned that Bolivia would "convulse" if the vote went ahead and called Andrónico Rodríguez a "traitor" for running against him. Morales later called on his supporters to cast null votes, saying that if the number of null ballots exceeded the share won by the top candidate, it would mean a victory for him.[39][50]
Rodríguez campaigned on a slogan of "Unity for All",[15] while Doria Medina's slogan was "100 days, dammit!", which was derived from remarks he made after surviving a plane crash in 2005.[39] Del Castillo campaigned on the slogan "We Are a National Option with Authentic Ideas".[15] Paz's campaign slogan was "Capitalism for All".[48]
After coming third in the first round, Doria Medina threw his support behind Rodrigo Paz for the run-off.[51]
During the first round, voting opened at 08:00 and ran until 16:00.[76] Evo Morales cast a null vote in Chapare Province, during which he was protected from possible arrest by members of a coca growers' union who formed a human chain around him.[1]
A mob threw stones at Andrónico Rodríguez while he voted in Entre Ríos, Cochabamba,[77] prompting him to be escorted on his way to cast his vote by a soldier. He blamed the incident on "a small group of extremists identified as supporters of Morales".[78] An explosive device was also set off at the polling station where he voted, but did not cause significant damage or injuries.[79]
Results
The first round result was described as putting an end to two decades of left-wing dominance in the country,[78] but it led to a different match-up than the polls had predicted.[1] To general surprise, Rodrigo Paz Pereira came out on top in the first round with 32.06%, followed by Jorge Quiroga Ramírez with 26.70%. Samuel Doria Medina, with 19.69%, was excluded from the runoff;[78] he acknowledged his defeat and called on voters to support Paz Pereira, in keeping with his commitment to support the leading candidate if he was eliminated in the first round.[80]. Together, these three candidates on the right and center-right won over 78% of the votes cast.
On the left, neither Andrónico Rodríguez (8.51%) nor Eduardo del Castillo (3.17%) qualified for the second round: the first time in twenty years that MAS had lost a presidential election and the first time that a presidential run-off will be required.[81] MAS lost all its 21 seats in the Senate and all but two of its 75 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.[82] In terms of the proportion of votes, it finished far behind its rivals with barely 3% of the vote. However, the election was also marked by a very high rate of invalid votes, which, combined with blank votes, amounted to more than one in five votes cast.[83] Former president Evo Morales welcomed the number of invalid votes the day after the election, which he had called on the population to use in protest against his exclusion from the presidential election.[84][78]
↑ "Bolivia's crazy kingdom of coca". The Economist. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025. The Six Federations is preparing to resist. María Eugenia Ledezma, its top female leader until a few months ago, says they will use guerrilla tactics against soldiers who venture into the Chapare, depriving them of sleep, then attacking with sticks and stones. She says miners have been teaching people how to make boobytraps with dynamite; sympathisers in the army have been training the young. 'Many of us, many leaders, will surely die or be imprisoned,' she says, grim-faced.
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