Overview

• Early tallies with over 91% of ballots counted show Rodrigo Paz at 32.8% and Jorge Quiroga at 26.4%, falling short of the threshold to win outright.
• The Movement Toward Socialism party saw its official candidates collapse amid a bitter rift between President Luis Arce and founder Evo Morales.
• Evo Morales remains barred from the ballot and has urged supporters to cast blank or defaced votes while sheltering in his Chapare stronghold to evade an arrest order.
• Bolivia is grappling with its most severe economic crisis in decades, with inflation nearing 25% and acute shortages of fuel and U.S. dollars driving voter anger.
• Both Paz and Quiroga have pledged fiscal austerity, foreign investment and rapid lithium development, moves that could realign Bolivia’s international ties and provoke social unrest.