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1 1 (October 22, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcis0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Servik Bolivia's October 2020 General Elections Updated October 22, 2020 On October 18, 2020, Luis Arce and the leftist Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party won Bolivia's presidential and legislative elections in a landslide. Arce, former finance minister in the government of President Evo Morales (2005-2019), secured a first-round victorywith 54% of the vote. Held nearly one year after Morales's November 2019 resignation following annulled October 2019 elections that were marred by allegations of fraud, the 2020 elections demonstrated voters' continued support for the MAS. U.S. officials congratulatedArce on his victory. U.S.-Bolivian relations could be challenging, given tension in relations under Morales and the Trump Administration's strong support for the conservative interim government. 2020 Election Results After a year of violence and polarization since Morales's resignation, many observers questioned whether the interim government led by Jeanette Anez, herself a presidential candidate until September, could convene free and fair elections amid the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Although some polls suggested Arce could win in the first round, most suggested that a run-off election likely w ould be necess ary and that the anti-MAS c andidates c ould defeat Arce by uniting behind former president Carlos Mesa. As preelection tensions escalated, the interim government warned of consequences if MAS supporters protested the results. Election Day proved generally calm, and postelection violence has not occurred. In contrast to the chaos of the 2019 elections, the reconstituted Supreme Electoral Tribunal administered a process that the parties and international election observers deemed generally free and fair. With 95% of the votes counted, Arce garnered roughly 54% of the vote, Carlos Mesa 29.4%, and conservative civic leader Luis Camacho 14.2%. By October 19, Mesa had conceded and Arce had received congratulations from Anez, U.S. officials, and Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro. The MAS maintained majorities in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The 2020 elections proved to be a referendum on the legacy of Morales and the MAS, a social movement turned political party that enacted a constitution that increased the rights of indigenous groups, decriminalized coca cultivation, and reduced poverty during an economic expansion fueled by commodity exports. Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, transformed Bolivia, but observers have criticized his efforts to remain in office (he won elections in 2006, 2009, and 2014). In 2017, the MAS-aligned Constitutional Tribunal removed limits on reelection established in the 2009 constitution, effectively Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11198 CRS NSIGHT Prepared for Membersand Commi ----es o Cong rss-----------------------------------

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