General elections were held in Bolivia on 12 October 2014, the second to take place under the country's 2009 constitution, and the first supervised by the Plurinational Electoral Organ, a newly created fourth branch of government. Incumbent President Evo Morales was re-elected for a third term.
Bolivian voters elected the President and Vice President of the Republic, 130 members of the Chamber of Deputies, and 36 members of the Senate, as well as the five first directly elected deputies to the Andean Parliament.
Background
In April 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the first term of President Evo Morales did not count towards constitutional term limits as the constitution of Bolivia had since been replaced. On 20 May, Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera signed a bill into law in the presence of MPs, members of the armed forces and Movement for Socialism representatives. He said: "President Evo Morales is constitutionally permitted to run for re-election in 2015." This was despite Morales not having made an announcement to run. Unnamed opposition leaders said they would appeal the ruling in trying to overturn it.
Election schedule
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) said in November 2013 that it is considering holding the election in October 2014, so any second round of presidential voting could take place in December, the traditional month for presidential elections. The TSE formally convened the election for 12 October 2014. Registration for new voters opened on 10 May and ran through to 9 June. Formal inter-party alliances needed to be finalized by July 14 to appear on the ballot. Campaign advertising was permitted only from 12 September to 8 October. Bolivia observes limits on electoral activity in the days immediately preceding an election, and special restrictions on election day.
Electoral system
The president was elected using a modified form of the two-round system; a candidate would be elected in the first round if they received over 50% of the vote, or if they received over 40% of the vote and were at least 10 percentage points ahead of their nearest rival. If neither threshold were, a run-off was planned for 7 December.
Each of the nine departments had four Senators, whilst the 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies were elected from 63 single-member districts (uninominal) and 60 from multi-member (plurinominal) districts. The number of seats in each department was apportioned according to their population, as determined by the 2012 national census.
Senators and deputies in the plurinominal seats were elected based on parties' vote share in the presidential contest. Deputies from the uninominal seats were elected by a separate vote. In cases of an exact tie in the uninominal seats, a run-off would have been held on 9 November. Indigenous or Campesino seats were chosen by the usos y costumbres of minority groups.
Each candidate was required to have an elected alternate from the same party. All candidate lists had to alternate between men and women; in the uninominal districts, the alternates were required to be from the opposite gender.
Parties and candidates
Five parties (including one party alliance) contested the presidential elections.
Movement for Socialism
Sitting President Evo Morales Ayma and Vice President Álvaro García Linera were seeking re-election, following victories in 2005 and 2009. Their candidacy was endorsed by the Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP) at its 18th anniversary gathering in March 2013 and its Seventh General Congress in October 2013.
Without Fear Movement
The center-left Without Fear Movement (MSM) nominated party founder, and 2000–2010 Mayor of La Paz Juan del Granado as its candidate for president on November 11, 2013. Both the party and its candidate were allies with the first Evo Morales administration, and the MSM ran on a joint slate with the MAS-IPSP in the 2009 election, but the alliance ruptured shortly afterwards.
Democrat Unity Coalition
The largest opposition parties—the Democrats (MDS), National Unity Front (UN; convener of the Broad Front), and Without Fear Movement—held a variety of talks discussing possible alliances from late 2013 through June 2014. On June 17, the Democrats and National Unity announced the formation of the Democrat Unity Coalition (; CUD). CUD's candidates for president and vice president were UN leader Samuel Doria Medina and Ernesto Suárez, respectively. Suárez is the former governor of Beni and leader of the Beni First party, which collaborated in the formation of the MDS.