Voting Day in Bolivia – The Things We Saw

This morning The Democracy Center staff and volunteers fanned out across Cochabamba to watch today's historic vote. Here are some observations on the day.

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I went down the hill with my oldest daughter and my son as they walked to a neighborhood school to vote. It is a very hot day here in Cochabamba and many voters held umbrellas over their heads as they approached the polls. At the polling place kids were playing soccer. Hamburgers and sodas were for sale. Most people had voted earlier so my kids walked in without standing on line.

They were given a chance to vote on three races – President, the lower house of Congress, and Governor (the first time that has been an elected position instead of a presidential appointment). The ballot is pretty simple, a set of rectangle boxes adorned with the colors and the logo of each respective party, along with a photo of the candidate right in the center. Voters just check a box for each race and hand their ballots in. Believe me, this is way less complicated than the confusing maze of candidates and state and local ballot measures my daughter faced in her last vote, in California.

A young man was conducting an exit poll for a national TV network. In my mixed neighborhood on Cochabamba’s north side Evo Morales held a small lead over Tuto Quiroga. Who knows how scientific the poll is. A lot of people wouldn’t answer the question.

By Jim Shultz

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The lead-up to Election Day is full of anticipation. Not because of the potential outcome of the vote, but because of the voting laws. There is no public transportation or commercial taxis. No alcohol is sold. No cars are allowed on the road unless they have official permission from the electoral court. People stockpile food. My house mom warned me that pedestrians are not allowed in the streets in groups greater than two people. In reality today was an excuse for a big party, for people to take over the vacant streets with block parties, for kids to construct goal markers in the road for soccer games.

Voting in Bolivia is mandatory for citizens under 75. When you go vote, you get three things. A pinkie, purple with indelible ink. An identity card, which you have to show for the next month or so in any financial transactions. And a commemorative pocket sized calendar from the National Electoral Court. The calendar card features a picture of a red, yellow and green tropical bird with its wings spread. A large pair of silver scissors is poised open around one of the birds wings ready to chop it off. In small print it reads, “A country without democracy is like a bird with clipped wings.” If you miss the writing, which I watched several people do, the picture is quite disturbing, especially as a reward for voting.

by Liese Gordon

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The election process in Cochabamba went totally normal today, even though there were various complaints about people being eliminated from the voter rolls. This kept a number of citizens from voting. There are two possible explanations for this. The first is a large turnout by voters who did not participate in last year’s municipal elections but who wanted to vote today. The second reason would be a plot by the National Election Court and some of the parties opposed to MAS, which is running first in the polls. Some MAS backers noted that the areas where these voter purges seemed to be the most widespread were those where MAS has its greatest support. The event of these voter purges could cast a shadow over election results given the deep polarization between MAS and PODEMOS [the party of Tuto Quiroga].

by Boris Rios