At stake in this election: 

• 36 seats in Bolivia’s Chamber of Senators (Camara de Senadores)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006)*
• Head of Government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006)[i]
• Assembly: Bolivia has a bicameral Plurinational Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional) consisting of the Chamber of Senators (Camara de Senadores) with 36 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados) with 130 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Chamber of Senators (Camara de Senadores) 36 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms*.
• In the Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados), 70 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms, 53 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms and 7 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.** [ii]

* Each of the nine Bolivian states elects four Senators. Allocation is by the D'Hondt method. (Before December 2009, there were three Senators per state, and no party could win more than two of the three seats in each.)

** PR seats are apportioned to each state in proportion to population, and these are allocated to parties in proportion to their respective shares of the Presidential vote in each state. Seven reserved indigenous seats are apportioned to non-contiguous, rural areas in seven of the nine states. Voters who declare themselves indigenous may vote for an indigenous deputy instead of in the regular, single-member district election.

Election Note:

On Sunday 12 October 2014, Bolivia will hold elections for both chambers in the bicameral Plurinational Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional): The Chamber of Senators (Camara de Senadores) and the Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados).[iii]

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Movement Toward Socialism/Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS)
  • Leader: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma
  • Seats won in last election: 26 in the Chamber of Senators; 88 in the Chamber of Deputies
• Party: Plan Progress for Bolivia-National Convergence/Plan Progreso para Bolivia–Convergencia Nacional (PPB)
  • Leader: Adrian OLIVA
  • Seats won in last election: 10 in the Chamber of Senators; 37 in the Chamber of Deputies
• Party: National Unity Front/Frente de Unidad Nacional (UN)
  • Leader: Samuel Doria MEDINA Arana
  • Seats won in last election: 0 in the Chamber of Senators; 3 in Chamber of Deputies
• Party: Movement Without Fear/Movimento Sin Miedo (MSM)
  • Leader: Juan Del GRANADO Cosio
  • Seats won in last election: 0 in Chamber of Senators; 4 in the Chamber of Deputies
• Party: Social Alliance
  • Leader: Rene JOAQUINO Cabrera
  • Seats won in last election: 0 in Chamber of Senators; 2 in the Chamber of Deputies
• Party: Social Democrat Movement/Movimento Democrata Social (MDS)[iv]
  • Leader: Oscar Ortiz ANTELO
  • Seats won in last election: N/A in Chamber of Senators; N/A in the Chamber of Deputies

Last election:

• The last election to the Chamber of Senators (Camara de Senadores) and the Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados) in Bolivia was held on 6 December 2009.[v] Turnout was 94.55 percent and 4,859,440 of 5,139,554 people casted ballots.[vi] The socialist-Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) won 89 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, while the Progressive Plan for Bolivia-National Converegence won 36.[vii] Results can be found here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 10,631,486 (July 2014 est)[viii]
• Registered Voters: 5,139,554 (2009)[ix]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 5,370,483 (July 2014 est)[i]
• Is Bolivia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (since 1980)[ii]
• Has Bolivia ratified CEDAW: Yes (8 June 1990)[iii]
• Gender Quota:  Yes: “Legislated Candidates Quotas” for both the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Senators[iv]
• Female Candidates in this election: N/A
• Number of Female Legislators: 29 (22%) of 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (2009) and 17 (47%) of 36 seats in the Chamber of Senators (2009)[v]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 113[vi]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Ranking: 20^th out of 86 non-OECD countries (latest rankings are from 2012)[vii]