18 October 2006

Citizens Track Electoral Process in Bolivia

Partnership for a Better Life

 
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Aymara indigenous people vote during general elections in Bolivia
Aymara indigenous people vote during general elections at a polling station in Ajllata, Bolivia. (© AP Images)

Lagunillas, a community located in the middle of Bolivia’s Altiplano plateau, is home to a rural population whose main business is farming, including growing beans and potatoes and raising llamas and sheep. In recent years, migration to other regions because of the area’s poor economy has reduced Lagunillas’s population from 5,000 to 1,300.

But the Achacollo family remained in Lagunillas. Anastasio, the head of the household, is a well-respected mallku, or local leader. He and his wife, Josefina, have raised nine children.

Prior to the December 2005 election, Anastasio was chosen by his community to act as an election observer, one of 2,700 Bolivian citizens, men and women, trained to observe the transparency and validity of the election process. The training was supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and was led by a network of civil society organizations.

Citizens observers, trained to monitor the process on Election Day, watched as voters cast ballots and then observed the vote-reporting procedures. At the end of Election Day, they submitted reports on the process to the headquarters of the civil society network, which reviewed and consolidated the reports. The project garnered praise from national and international organizations, including the Organization of American States, which called the project a "best practice" that could be used as a model in other countries.

Conscientious citizens like Anastasio Achacollo worked hard on Election Day to ensure fair, transparent elections and broad participation by voters.

In partnership with local civil society organizations, USAID continues to help Bolivians in their efforts to strengthen civil society. Planned future activities include assisting the civil society network in monitoring the upcoming meeting of the constituent assembly and the national vote on regional autonomy.

With help from USAID, Anastasio Achacollo, the mallku of Lagunillas, might have yet another opportunity to demonstrate the importance of citizen participation in consolidating Bolivia’s democracy.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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