ATLANTA (Oct. 5, 2020) — Two members of the Carter Center’s expert election team arrived in La Paz Saturday to continue in the field their analysis of the Bolivian electoral process, which the team has been carrying out remotely for two months.
To minimize risks of COVID-19 contagion following international travel, the experts are now quarantining for 10 days, during which they will continue their assessment and engagement with relevant stakeholders via virtual meetings.
Since July, four Carter Center experts have been analyzing key aspects of the Bolivian electoral process, including political, legal, and administrative aspects of the election during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team also is analyzing social media political advertising, including compliance with existing Bolivian regulations, and partnering with Chequea Bolivia, which is in process of certification to become a member of the International Fact-Checking Network, to assess online election-related disinformation. This assessment will be a key element of the Center’s analysis.
The Carter Center had originally planned to deploy a full-scale mission to Bolivia, but the medical and logistical challenges posed by COVID-19 led the Center to limit its effort to a smaller and more focused electoral expert team.
Though the two experts will be in Bolivia for election day, the mission’s limited size and scope makes a thorough, nationwide assessment of the voting, counting, and tabulation processes impossible. Instead, the expert team will focus its analysis on several key parts of the electoral process, particularly the legal electoral framework, the effectiveness and transparency of electoral preparations, the campaign environment – including freedom of the media – respect for core participatory rights throughout the process, and the use of social media. The mission’s analysis is based on international human rights obligations and standards for democratic elections.
The Carter Center will release a brief preliminary report a few days after the Oct. 18 election. Approximately two months after the conclusion of the electoral process, it will provide a more detailed report on key critical pre- and postelection issues, including possible appeals. The final report will include recommendations based on the experts’ analysis.
Translation
El Centro Carter envía un equipo de expertos electorales a Bolivia
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Contact: In Atlanta, Soyia Ellison, associate communications director
In La Paz, José Antonio de Gabriel, head of mission
The Carter Center
Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
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