Bolivia heads to the polls as 20 years of leftist rule expected to end

Right-wing candidates are the frontrunners in elections marked by economic crisis and division in the ruling socialist ranks.

People in Bolivia are headed to the polls to elect the next president as well as the members of the Congress, with the governing socialists expected to lose power after almost 20 years due to a deep economic crisis and division within the leftist coalition.

Ballot stations opened on Sunday at 8am (12:00 GMT) and will close at 4pm (20:00 GMT), with initial results expected after 9pm (01:00 GMT on Monday).

The election is also the first time in almost two decades that polling indicates Bolivia’s incumbent Movement for Socialism, or MAS, could face defeat. MAS-affiliated and other left-leaning candidates trail the right-wing opposition by about 10 percent, according to the latest August Ipsos MORI survey.

Eight presidential candidates are in the running – from the far-right to the political left. But two candidates appear to have a comfortable lead: Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, who served as interim president and vice president under former military ruler Hugo Banzer, and Samuel Doria Mediana, a wealthy businessman and former planning minister.