By EUDO CITIZENSHIP experts Maria Teresa Zegada and Jean-Michel Lafleur

On 12th October 2014, Evo Morales was re-elected for a third term as President following a large victory in the general elections. For the second time Bolivians residing abroad were invited to take part in Presidential Elections from abroad. 272,058 citizens managed to register as voters from abroad in the weeks preceding the elections and 160,040 of them eventually went to cast a ballot in person in one of the special polling stations located abroad.

Compared to 2009, Bolivian citizens residing abroad could benefit from two administrative modifications that were designed to increase participation. First, the number of destination countries from which citizens could register and vote increased from 4 (Argentina, Brazil, Spain and the United States) to 33. Second, voters who had registered for the 2009 elections were automatically registered for subsequent elections. Emigrant participation increased by 44.7% between 2009 and 2014, though with significant variations between countries.

Emigrant voters concentrate in traditional South American destination countries, while more recent countries of emigration in Europe and Asia such as Belgium and South Korea only counted a few hundred voters. Similarly, important differences in electoral preferences can be observed between destination countries. For instance, voters in destination countries such as Argentina – that have traditionally attracted massive low-skilled Bolivian emigrants –  overwhelmingly gave their support to Evo Morales. On the contrary, a more diverse electoral behaviour can be observed in new destination countries. Overall, Evo Morales won a comfortable majority of votes among both resident and expatriate voters.

 

More information on external voting in the Bolivian context can be found in the following publications:

Lafleur, Jean-Michel, and Sánchez-Domínguez María (2014) “The Political Choices of Emigrants Voting in Home Country Elections: A Socio-Political Analysis of the Electoral Behaviour of Bolivian External Voters.” Migration Studies, Advance Access published April 28, 2014. 

Lafleur, Jean Michel (Ed.) (2012) Diáspora y voto en el exterior. La participación política de emigrantes bolivianos en la elección de su país de origen. Barcelona: CIDOB.