Bolivia's presidential vote heads for first-ever runoff

Bolivian presidential candidate Rodrigo Paz Pereira (front) speaks to his supporters in La Paz, Bolivia, Aug. 17, 2025. Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced Sunday that the country's presidential election will go to a runoff after no candidate secured the required majority in the first round. The preliminary results, published on the court's official website, showed Rodrigo Paz Pereira, the candidate of the Christian Democratic Party, and Jorge Quiroga, the former president and candidate of Alianza Libre coalition, ranked first and second among the eight candidates, with approximately 32.1 percent and 26.8 percent of the votes, respectively. (Photo by Javier Mamani/Xinhua)

LA PAZ, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced Sunday that the country's presidential election will go to a runoff after no candidate secured the required majority in the first round.

The preliminary results, published on the court's official website, showed Rodrigo Paz Pereira, the candidate of the Christian Democratic Party, and Jorge Quiroga, the former president and candidate of Alianza Libre coalition, ranked first and second among the eight candidates, with approximately 32.1 percent and 26.8 percent of the votes, respectively.

In order to win the election, a presidential candidate must get more than 50 percent of the votes, or more than 40 percent of the votes while having a vote share exceeding 10 percentage points higher than that of the second-place candidate.

More than 7.5 million voters cast their ballots on Bolivian soil in this election. The second round is expected to take place on Oct. 19. ■