Socialist Wins Bolivian Election

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales has claimed the presidential election victory in Bolivia for the Socialist Party and Luis Arce.

After a private count of sampled polling stations, even the archrival of Morales, President Jeanine Áñez congratulated the socialist party, asking them “to govern thinking in Bolivia and our democracy.” 

People in Bolivia have been used to fast preliminary elections results, however, after the fraud allegations during last year’s ballot, the new electoral authorities had been asking voters for more patience.

The long wait for the results on Sunday rose doubts about something wrong happening. At the same time, after private pollsters stated they didn’t trust the survey of their own, the results of two exit polls were released.

Evo Morales declared Luis Arce the winner, who according to two pollsters, had garnered more than 50% of the votes, compared to 31% for former President Carlos Mesa.

In his remarks from exile, Morales stated that democracy has been recovered, and “Lucho will be our president.”

Luis Arce appealed for calm several minutes later, stating that he would aim to make a government of national unity.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced authorities to postpone the presidential election twice, as the country lost approximately 8,400 of its 11.6 million people due to the virus.