Led by Monica Frassoni and Luis Castellar, ECES was present at every key event of the sub-national election day in Bolivia.
The team began its activities at 7:30 a.m., attending the opening ceremony led by Judge Gustavo Ávila, President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). Also present were national authorities, representatives of both national and international election observation, and members of the diplomatic corps. ECES’ assistance to the Plurinational Electoral Body (Órgano Electoral Plurinacional -OEP) in these sub-national elections focused primarily on strategic communication. In this context, the Pro-Election Bolivia project assisted the SIFDEs (Servicio Intercultural de Fortalecimiento Democrático), both national and departmental,in producing a dozen educational videos on voting procedures for distribution on social media.
Later, the Ombudsman, Pedro Calisaya, received ECES team for a visit to the Ombudsman's Office Situation Room. There, they observed the operation of the Complaints System and the live opening of polling stations in different regions of the country. It is worth noting that the Pro-Election Bolivia project's assistance to the Ombudsman's Office focused precisely on the detection and mitigation of electoral conflict. To this end, observation guides were developed, and the project provided funding and support for the implementation of the Situation Room itself. This room allows for immediate and georeferenced monitoring of electoral integrity at 21 focal points located in Bolivia's nine departments.
Afterward, the team attended the press conference presenting the first information bulletin from Observa Bolivia, the local observation mission that receives technical assistance from ECES. As with the Ombudsman's Office observation, Pro-Election Bolivia has funded the implementation of its Situation Room, which is also georeferenced. However, its inquiry form (also technically assisted by ECES) is designed (using a representative sample) to investigate the behaviour of polling stations and precincts during the conduct of fair elections.
In the context of visits to key actors in the electoral cycle, Monica Frassoni was invited to the set of the state television channel BTV, where she gave an interview about ECES’ work in different missions and regions around the world, with particular emphasis on its work in Bolivia. She also explained the nature of the work with the various strategic partners of the Pro-Election Bolivia project (the Women's Coordinator, the Ombudsman's Office, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and the Fundación Construir). The interview received national coverage. In the early afternoon, ECES visited the Ombudsman's Office again, for the second time, to receive the first report on conflicts during Election Day. Later that afternoon, they returned to the Observa Bolivia Situation Room to receive their second report of the day. The day concluded at 9:00 p.m. at the RENOVA Hotel in La Paz, where they heard the official vote count report from the SIREPRE (Sistema de Resultados Electorales Preliminares) rapid vote counting system.
