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2w ago

Bolivia’s Weekend Election Sees Right-Wing Surge and Morales-Led Null Vote Drive

Operating from Chapare, Evo Morales is rallying supporters to spoil ballots in a bid to undermine the frontrunners’ market-reform pledges.

A woman walks past a campaign center for supporters of former President Evo Morales who are in favor or a null vote in the upcoming presidential election in El Alto, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Stickers of former President Evo Morales sit on a table at a campaign center for supporters in favor of a null vote in the upcoming presidential elections in El Alto, Bolivia, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A supporter of former President Evo Morales holds a sign that reads in Spanish: "If Evo is not on the ballot, my vote is null" ahead of August presidential elections, in El Alto, Bolivia, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Overview

  • Polls place center-right Samuel Doria Medina and former president Jorge Quiroga in a dead heat at around 20% support each ahead of Sunday’s vote.
  • A collapse in gas exports has drained Bolivia’s foreign reserves, driving inflation above 24% and triggering shortages of dollars, fuel and subsidized bread.
  • Barred from the ballot and wanted on criminal charges, Evo Morales is leading a “Nulo” campaign that encourages voters to deface or leave their ballots blank.
  • Doria Medina and Quiroga have vowed swift austerity, proposing cuts to fuel subsidies, partial rollbacks of Morales-era nationalizations, closure of loss-making state firms and tax-free lithium zones.
  • Left-wing contenders Andrónico Rodríguez and Eduardo del Castillo are polling in single digits as divisions within MAS deepen and the risk of post-vote protests grows.