Bolivia presidential candidates cast their votes

The leading contenders in Bolivia's high-stakes presidential election casted their vote Sunday in a redo that could determine the country's democratic future and bring a return of socialism at a time when it is struggling with a raging pandemic and protests over last year's annulled ballot.

Former Economy Minister Luis Arce, who led an extended boom under former President Evo Morales, and former President Carlos Mesa, a centrist historian and journalist who was second to Morales in the disputed returns released after last year's vote, casted their ballots.

Trailing in all the polls has been Luis Fernando Camacho, a conservative businessman who helped lead last year's uprising, as well as a Korean-born evangelist. Bolivia, once one of the most politically volatile countries in Latin America, experienced a rare period of stability under former President Morales, the country's first Indigenous president who resigned and fled the country late last year after his claimed election win was annulled amid allegations of fraud.

Protests over the vote and later his ouster set off a period of unrest that caused at least 36 deaths. Morales called his ouster a coup.

Sunday's vote is an attempt to reset Bolivia's democracy. Ballots and other materials were delivered to polling stations Saturday by police and military units without incident, officials said. Police and soldiers took to the streets hours later seeking to ensure calm.

The country's Supreme Electoral Court announced late Saturday that it had decided unanimously against reporting running preliminary vote totals as ballots are counted. It said it wanted to avoid the uncertainty that fed unrest when there was a long halt in reporting preliminary results during last year's election.

Council President Salvador Romero promised a safe and transparent official count, which could take five days. To win in the first round, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote, or 40% with a lead of at least 10 percentage points over the second-place candidate. A runoff vote, if necessary, would be held Nov. 28. Bolivia's entire 136-member Legislative Assembly also will be voted in.

The election was postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic. On a per capita basis, few countries have been hit harder than impoverished, landlocked Bolivia: Nearly 8,400 of its 11.6 million people have died of COVID-19. The election will occur with physical distancing required between masked voters — at least officially, if not in practice.