Diciembre 06, 2005
Cross Voting
There is this funny little phenomenon taking place all across Bolivia. In 7 of the 9 Departments, the winner of the Presidential elections are all but decided. Either the PODEMOS or MAS candidate are considered favorites to wrap up the vote on a national level. However, Prefect elections, which are a first in the country, are not following this trend. Normally it might expected that a vote for a particular party would equal a similar vote for the Prefect of the same party.
Two particular cases jump out. In Cochabamba, Evo Morales is sure to win very handedly, but his Prefect candidate Jorge Alvarado (22%) trails AUN (ex-NFR and ex-Cochabamba mayor) Manfred Reyes Villa (53%). In La Paz, Morales also has gained the majority of votes according to the polls, but the PODEMOS candidate Jose Luis Paredes is leading with 53% the MAS Prefect candidate, Hugo Morales.
Other Prefect candidates that are running away with the race:
Pando - Leopoldo Fernández (PODEMOS) - 68%
Santa Cruz - Rubén Costas - Autonomía Por Bolivia (APB) - 50%
Tarija - Mario Cossío - Camino al Cambio (ERCC) - 53%
Cossío leads former Bolivian President Jaime Paz Zamora, in what might signal the end of a controversial political career.
Posted by eduardo at Diciembre 6, 2005 08:29 PM
Comments
Well, it's hard to say what should be typical, since there's never been such an election. But cross-ticket voting isn't uncommon. Though I think what this suggests is, in part, that MAS doesn't have deep support beyond Evo's personal appeal (I think even Evo's support is "thin"). That spells trouble for any potential Evo presidency.
Posted by: mcentellas at Diciembre 6, 2005 09:44 PM
Evo won, and this can not be disputed. Bolivians should be proud, to have a leader from the non-counted mayority of citizens of this country. Hope you are as happy as I am, There is no Democracy if the 78per cent of the populacion is ignored by the administration in power. Bolivia is an indigenous country, poor because the goverments have ignore for centuries this fact.
Posted by: judith at Diciembre 22, 2005 04:32 PM