Socialist candidate Luis Arce, a former Morales aide, appears to have won Bolivia presidency

(Image credit: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

published 19 October 2020

Bolivians went to the polls Sunday in a do-over election twice postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a year after botched elections sent longtime president Evo Morales into exile in Argentina. The national electoral commission has been slow to release results, but two private exit polls show Luis Arce, the candidate for Morales' Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party, wining an outright majority of the votes in the first round. Former President Carlos Mesa is leading in the official count, based on 6 percent of ballots tabulated. But Arce claimed victory early Monday, and acting President Jeanine Áñez, a conservative rival of Morales, appeared to concede that MAS's candidate won the election.

Arce was economy minister under Morales, overseeing a period of economic expansion and reduced inequality. But Bolivia has one of the worst per capita outbreaks of COVID-19 in the world, so reviving the economy again is seen as a tough challenge. MAS is also expected to have won a majority in the 136-seat Legislative Assembly.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.