Easter at the Polls

After a visit from the Easter Bunny...It was off to the polling place.
Sunday was election day in Bolivia!

Elliott helps Javier prepare to vote.

As fate would have it, Bolivia scheduled its nation-wide municipal and gubernatorial elections for Easter Sunday. Elections are always held on Sundays, but this one sort of chopped up what would otherwise be a 3-day holiday weekend because Bolivians are serious about electoral turnout: no one but no one is allowed to travel on Election day. Anywhere.

You are expected to be at home, walking to your polling place. No cars are on the road without special permission. And if you don’t vote, you are fined (about $30) and not allowed to make bank transactions for 3 months! Result: 80% turnout at the polls. Also, remember that Bolivians have only had free, unrigged elections for about the last 20 years—a right far less likely to be taken for granted. As such, I didn't hear anyone really complaining about the restrictions.

This is an interesting election because it is the first time governors and mayors are being directly elected. Previously they were selected by the president or by some kind of council —in any case the president and his party had a lot of influence. So today’s election results will be a revealing show of support--or opposition--for Evo and his party.

We accompanied Javier and Susan to their polling place, then we walked to Plaza Abaroa to ride the carousel and play for a little while before spending the rest of the day hanging out at home! Here are some pictures.

The polling stations are staffed by volunteers in a sort of "jury duty" system...if your name is published in the paper, you do poll duty.

Transparency is taken seriously...down to the ballot boxes!

A worker explains the ballot. Paper ballots are marked by hand with pen, folded and put into the cardboard boxes.

A public official who had just voted was at the center of major media coverage when we walked in. Again, there is lots of interest in the outcome of this first-of-its-kind election.

This is not at all election-related, but in the polling place I happened upon these women to illustrate for you the typical range of dress in La Paz...western jeans or traditional Cholita dress of pollera skirt & bowler hat.

After the voting visit...to Plaza Abaroa for some play time.

The 30 cent carousel.

Elliott paying homage to Eduardo Abaroa--a hero in Bolivia's infamous "War of the Pacific" that he's been studying about in school.