[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 447 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 447
Expressing serious concern about widespread irregularities in Bolivia's
October 20, 2019, general elections and supporting the convening of new
elections in Bolivia at the earliest possible date.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 4, 2019
Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Coons,
Mr. Kaine, Mr. Cruz, and Mr. Gardner) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
December 17, 2019
Reported by Mr. Risch, with an amendment and an amendment to the
preamble
January 8, 2020
Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing serious concern about widespread irregularities in Bolivia's
October 20, 2019, general elections and supporting the convening of new
elections in Bolivia at the earliest possible date.
Whereas Evo Morales was elected as the first indigenous president of Bolivia in
2005;
Whereas, in 2009, Bolivians approved by a vote of more than 60 percent in a
nationwide referendum a new constitution that established a limit of two
5-year presidential terms and declared the country a plurinational state
in order to better reflect Bolivia's dozens of ethnic groups;
Whereas, in 2009 and 2014, President Morales won re-election to a second and
third term in office with more than 60 percent of the vote;
Whereas, in 2016, 51.3 percent of Bolivian voters rejected a national referendum
on the proposal by the Administration of President Morales to lift
presidential term limits;
Whereas, in 2017, despite the results of the 2016 national referendum, President
Morales' political allies in the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal
removed presidential term limits;
Whereas, on October 20, 2019, amid existing concerns over the politicization of
Bolivia's electoral commission, Bolivian voters went to the polls for
general elections to choose a new president, members of the Senate, and
members of the Chamber of Deputies;
Whereas, at the invitation of Morales Administration, the Organization of
American States (OAS) General Secretariat sent an Electoral Observation
Mission to Bolivia that was comprised of 92 experts and observers from
24 different nationalities deployed in the country's nine departments
and in three countries in which Bolivian expatriates could cast their
votes abroad;
Whereas, on October 20, 2019, Bolivian electoral authorities stopped reporting
the preliminary vote count for a period of 20 hours, subsequently
announced preliminary results that negated the need for a second-round
election, and Evo Morales proclaimed himself the winner of the
presidential election;
Whereas, on October 21, 2019, the OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Bolivia
expressed ``deep concern and surprise at the drastic and hard-to-explain
change in the trend of the preliminary results revealed after the
closing of the polls'';
Whereas, in the aftermath of the October 20, 2019, general elections, violent
protests occurred throughout Bolivia in response to electoral
irregularities and the findings of the OAS Electoral Observation
Mission;
Whereas, on October 30, 2019, the Morales Administration and the OAS General
Secretariat signed an agreement to have the OAS conduct an audit of the
integrity of the October 20, 2019, general elections;
Whereas, on November 10, 2019, an OAS technical mission issued a report on its
audit of the integrity of the October 20, 2019, general elections, which
included findings that--
(1) the preliminary and final election results were transmitted via a
flawed computer transmission system that was accessed by unauthorized
outside computer servers;
(2) there was a deficient chain of custody for and significant
irregularities in the electoral tally sheets and other electoral records;
and
(3) the audit team could not validate the results of the election and
therefore recommended a new electoral process;
Whereas, on November 10, 2019, President Morales acknowledged the results of the
OAS technical mission, announced that he would call new elections, and
stated that, ``new national elections will allow the Bolivian people to
democratically choose new authorities with their vote'';
Whereas, in the face of widespread public protests and a deteriorating security
environment, President Morales departed Bolivia on November 12, 2019,
and was granted asylum by the Government of Mexico;
Whereas, on November 12, 2019, the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal recognized
an interim president of Bolivia;
Whereas the transitional government in Bolivia signed a law on November 24,
2019, stating that new elections must be held within 120 days after the
election of a new Electoral Tribunal by the National Assembly;
Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) stated that
protests occurring in Bolivia since the October 20, 2019, general
election have left 23 people dead and more than 700 people injured; and
Whereas the IACHR has urged the Bolivian state ``to adopt all measures necessary
to prevent impunity, to protect the right to peaceful assembly, and to
take urgent action to preserve Bolivians' lives and integrity, as well
as ensuring that journalists and autonomous institutions to protect and
defend human rights can do their job'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) expresses concern about the numerous irregularities
that occurred during the October 20, 2019, general elections in
Bolivia;
(2) commends the efforts of the OAS Electoral Observation
Mission in Bolivia and supports the findings of the OAS
electoral audit mission, which documented numerous
irregularities during the October 2019 general elections in
Bolivia;
(3) deplores the acts of violence that have occurred in
Bolivia in the aftermath of the October 20, 2019, general
elections and urges all Bolivians to repudiate violence and to
peacefully exercise their rights of freedom of expression and
assembly;
(4) urges Bolivia's transitional government to work
expeditiously to establish the conditions for an inclusive,
credible, transparent, and democratic elections as soon as
possible in accordance with their laws and constitution;
(5) encourages the Bolivian state to protect the human
rights of all persons, including indigenous groups, regardless
of political affiliation, ethnicity, religion, or sex;
(6) encourages the Department of State and the U.S. Mission
to the Organization of American States to provide all
appropriate support to facilitate the convening of free, fair,
and transparent democratic elections in Bolivia as soon as
possible in accordance with their laws and constitution;
(7) encourages the Organization of American States to take
all necessary steps, in accordance with the principles of the
Inter-American Democratic Charter, to ensure respect for the
will of Bolivian voters and the integrity of the new democratic
elections in Bolivia as soon as possible in accordance with
their laws and constitution; and
(8) supports the call by the Permanent Council of the
Organization of American States for Bolivian authorities to
ensure full respect and protection of human rights and
accountability for any violation thereof.
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