Bolivians Vote on Whether Morales, Governors Remain in Office

By Bill Faries
Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Bolivian voters decide today whether President Evo Morales and eight regional governors get to finish out their terms amid a stalemate over a new constitution and the distribution of energy taxes.
About 4.4 million of Bolivia's 10 million citizens are eligible to vote in the recall referendum. Morales agreed to the ballot after his plans for a new constitution stalled and citizens voted for greater autonomy in opposition-led provinces including Santa Cruz and Tarija, where most of the country's natural gas wealth is based.
``The government has had to spend too much energy on all this political wrangling,'' said Mark Weisbrot, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. ``This will be a good opportunity for them to move forward.''
Polls open at 9 a.m. New York time and close at 7 p.m. Initial, unofficial results may be available soon afterward, the national electoral court said on its Web site.
Voters will answer ``Yes'' or ``No'' on two obliquely phrased questions:
``Do you support continuing the process of change led by President Evo Morales and Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera?'' and ``Do you agree with the continuity of the policies, actions and administration of your governor?''
Bolivia's electoral court on July 31 gave Morales, 48, an advantage in today's balloting, ruling that governors need 50 percent of the vote to keep their jobs. Morales's opponents have to muster about 54 percent -- more than he won in the 2005 election -- to force him and the vice president from office.
Gallup Poll
Losing governors must step down immediately, with their successors named by Morales. If Morales loses, the electoral court said he's required to call elections within six months. Morales began his four-year term as president in 2006.
About 61 percent of Bolivians want Morales to finish his term, which ends in 2010, according to a July 5-28 poll by Gallup International. Governors received less than 50 percent support in four provinces: pro-Morales Oruro, La Paz, opposition-run Cochabamba, and gas-rich Tarija. The poll of 3,582 people has a margin of error of 2.27 percent.
A victory by Morales will make him more likely to push forward on his drive for a new constitution that enshrines state control over natural resources, limits landholdings and allows him to run for re-election, Weisbrot said. Voters would have to approve the draft constitution in a separate referendum that hasn't been scheduled.