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1 1 (June 16, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdhzw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: * Con qres.i, a Reasearch Service Bolivia: Elections in September? Updated June 16, 2020 On June 10, 2020, Bolivia's legislative assembly approved a law establishing September 6 as the new date for general elections. The elections were scheduled for May 3, 2020, but suspended in March following Interim President Jeanette Afiez's declaration of a national quarantine in response to Coronavirus Disease (COVID- 19). Afiez has refused to sign the legislation due to the pandemic, but a supermajority of legislators can promulgate the law without her support. Bolivia has been polarized since the annulled October 2019 elections alleged to be marred by fraud and the November resignation of President Evo Morales of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party. The United States remains concerned about the political volatility in Bolivia. The Trump Administration and Congress have supported efforts to ensure the upcoming elections are free and fair. October Elections Annulled Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, transformed Bolivia, but observers criticized his effort to remain in office (he won elections in 2006, 2009, and 2014). In 2017, Bolivia's Constitutional Tribunal removed limits on reelection established in the 2009 constitution, effectively overruling a 2016 referendum in which voters rejected a constitutional change to allow Morales to run for another term. Figure I. Bolivia at a Glance Populationz 11.9 11tl[iur A I a I1n e ts GDPIGDP per cajilta L6 Paz 'otainbeo h . ... ;ii poverty I n4 34 A C, iN F Ke'y trad&ng Jaitnet- .):Bez i 1O5% u.ia B 6lPugntna i&% 209. TA Trop s xpo tt; p-flz nu, z in,) go JO1 GA Sources: CRS Graphics, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas (INE), Global Trade Atlas (GTA). Allegations of fraud marred Bolivia's October election. The TSE said Morales exceeded the 10- point margin he needed to avoid a runoff over former president Carlos Mesa, but Mesa rejected that result. Some protesters called for a new election; others demanded Morales's resignation. On November 10, 2019, the Organization of American States (OAS) issued preliminary findings suggesting enough irregularities to merit a new election. (Some experts have since challenged aspects of those findings). Morales agreed to hold new elections, but the opposition rejected his offer. Morales resigned after police refused to stop protesters, ministers resigned, and civic organizations, unions, and the military urged Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11198 ORS iNSiGHT Prepared -r Men:bersand Comrn i: tee* o Cong re ----

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