DistantNews
Support us
Gustavo Ávila: “The TSE proposes a new electoral law to modernize democracy”
🇧🇴 Bolivia /Elections & Politics

Gustavo Ávila: “The TSE proposes a new electoral law to modernize democracy”

From El Deber · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources New plan
  • Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal will begin work on reforming electoral rules after five electoral processes exposed what its president called outdated legislation.
  • Proposed changes include tighter deadlines for replacing candidates, new rules for political organizations, sanctions for so-called “taxi parties,” digital campaign regulations and an updated voter register.
  • The draft will be prepared with the nine departmental electoral tribunals and later discussed with lawmakers, parties, civil society groups, universities and civic organizations.

Bolivia’s electoral authorities are preparing a broad rewrite of the country’s election rules, with the first discussions scheduled in Cochabamba. Gustavo Ávila, president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, said five electoral processes had shown that the current framework no longer matched electoral realities.

The meeting, called “Toward Electoral Reform,” will bring together the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the nine departmental tribunals. The European Union will support the process. Each departmental tribunal is expected to present proposals before the electoral body develops an initial technical draft.

The proposed changes cover candidate substitutions, party organization and campaigning. Ávila said the tribunal wants to reduce the period during which candidates can be replaced, after criticism of a rule that allowed substitutions up to 48 hours before the deadline for closing candidate lists. The reform would also update the submission of lists, regulate campaign activity on digital platforms, address the registration of women candidates, establish rules for debates and regulate opinion polls.

The initiative would also amend the Political Organizations Law to address what Ávila called “taxi parties,” a term used for parties with limited or questionable organizational structures. He said some citizens appear as party members without signing membership books. The proposal would classify that practice as a crime and impose sanctions for the sale of political posts and legislative seats.

The tribunal also wants to change the rules for second-round elections. Under the current law, a party can decide not to participate, a provision Ávila said should be modified after a party withdrew from a runoff in La Paz. Following the technical discussions, the proposed text will be presented across Bolivia’s nine departments for consultation with lawmakers, political parties, social organizations, universities and other groups.

The main point is that we are united in understanding the need to preserve dialogue and seek solutions based on international law.

— Gustavo ÁvilaThe TSE president describes the shared principle guiding the proposed electoral reform.
About this summary

Originally published by El Deber in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog