Voting Intentions: Samuel Holds the Lead, Tuto Close Behind, Manfred Stalls, and Andrónico Plummets | Intención de voto: Samuel no suelta la punta, Tuto lo sigue de cerca, Manfred se estanca y Andrónico cae en picada

By Unitel:

The 10 most relevant recent developments we recommend you read:

Tercera encuesta de la red UNITEL de cara a los comicios presidenciales.

Third UNITEL poll ahead of the presidential elections. Photo: Unitel

Poll: Samuel secures first place but will face Tuto in a runoff; Manfred is third and Andrónico drops to fourth. Poll: Samuel leads voting intention in five departments and Tuto in four. Poll: 40% of voters are not convinced by any candidate; analysts point to a lack of proposals.
eju.tv recommends you read the 10 most relevant developments from the past few hours:

– Poll: Samuel secures first place but will face Tuto in a runoff; Manfred is third and Andrónico drops to fourth

Samuel Doria Medina leads the voting intention poll presented on Wednesday night by the Unitel network. The Unidad candidate garners 21.5% electoral support heading into the August 17 elections. According to the Ipsos Ciesmori poll, he is followed by Jorge Tuto Quiroga of the Libre alliance with 19.6%. Manfred Reyes Villa of APB–Súmate ranks third with 8.3%, while Andrónico Rodríguez of Alianza Popular holds the fourth spot with 6.1%, his worst performance so far. Rodrigo Paz Pereira of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) has 5.8% support. In the lower half of the table: Eduardo del Castillo of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) with 2.1%, followed by Jhonny Fernández of the alliance La Fuerza del Pueblo with 1.8%. Further down are Eva Copa of the Movement for National Renewal (Morena) with 0.4%, and lastly Pavel Aracena of Libertas y Progreso ADN with 1.3%. The poll also shows that residual voting reaches 34.1%.

– Poll: Samuel leads voting intention in five departments and Tuto in four

The electoral landscape across departments shows changes, with the winds of change blowing in favor of Samuel Doria Medina, presidential candidate of the Unidad alliance, who now leads voting intention in five departments—unlike previous polls—including Santa Cruz (29.8%) and La Paz (18.1%). The third voting intention poll—conducted by Ipsos CIESMORI for UNITEL—also shows Doria Medina in first place in Tarija (37%), Beni (27.3%), and Pando (17.7%). Meanwhile, Jorge Tuto Quiroga, candidate for the Libre alliance, leads in Chuquisaca (27%), Oruro (23.8%), Potosí (16.6%), and Cochabamba (20.1%), pushing Manfred Reyes Villa of APB–Súmate into second place in Cochabamba (17%).
In Santa Cruz:
Samuel Doria Medina (Unidad Alliance): 29.8%
Jorge Tuto Quiroga (Libre Alliance): 24.5%
Manfred Reyes Villa (APB Súmate): 7.1%
Andrónico Rodríguez (Alianza Popular): 3.4%

– Andrónico drops to fourth nationally and in the central axis—his worst showing in voting intention ahead of the elections

Alianza Popular candidate Andrónico Rodríguez has his worst performance in voting intention ahead of the August 17 general elections. In the poll presented Wednesday night by Unitel, the current Senate president scores 6.1%, placing fourth. The opinion poll is led by Samuel Doria Medina (21.5%), followed by Jorge Tuto Quiroga (19.6%) and Manfred Reyes Villa (8.3%). Compared to previous results, Rodríguez has seen a sharp drop: 14.2% in the first poll, 11.8% in the second, and now 6.1%—an eight-point decrease. He lags far behind the top two candidates. In Santa Cruz, Rodríguez (Alianza Popular) polls at 3.4% and ranks fourth. In La Paz, he scores 7.8%, also in fourth place after having led in earlier polls. He also drops in Cochabamba, his home region, with only 5.4%.

– Who will win the presidential election? Check out public perception in the voting intention poll

Less than three weeks before the election of Bolivia’s new president, UNITEL released its third voting intention poll on Wednesday. One of the questions asked about public perception of the likely winner. “Regardless of your preferred candidate, who do you think will win the election?” was posed. 29% of respondents believe Samuel Doria Medina will win—an increase from 22% in the first poll released on July 13. Jorge Tuto Quiroga ranks second in perception and also shows growth. In the first poll, 17% of respondents saw him as the likely winner; in this third poll, 19% do.

– Poll: 40% of voters not convinced by any candidate; analysts point to a lack of proposals

According to the poll presented Wednesday night by Unitel, 40% of voters are not convinced by any candidate. In contrast, 32% of respondents have already decided on their vote. Another 24% are undecided but leaning toward two or three candidates, and 4% did not respond or said they don’t know. Analyst Carlos Valverde noted that candidates lack concrete proposals to win over voters, focusing instead on attacking rivals. Amando Ortuño added that candidates “fail to listen to people’s problems” to craft persuasive proposals. “Communication is a serious problem in these campaigns,” he said. Businessman Fernando Hurtado argued that “we must move from disqualification to proposals,” as “it’s no longer enough to disqualify MAS.” For Amalia Pando, “people want radical solutions” but also need help with basic survival.

– National poll: Undecided and null votes rise again; blank vote drops slightly

The results of the third national voting intention poll, ahead of the August 17 elections, were released Wednesday on UNITEL. Conducted by Ipsos-CIESMORI, the poll shows a rise in residual voting, which includes null, blank, and undecided responses. Blank votes register at 8.1%, down 0.1% from the second poll (8.2%). In the first poll, in early June, the figure was 6.5%. Null votes now stand at 13.6%, up from 12.5% in the second poll and 10.5% in the first. Undecided votes have risen to 12.4%, up from 11.3% in the second and 10% in the first. Altogether, residual votes now total 34.1%, 2.1% higher than in the second poll—and exceeding the totals of any individual candidate.

– 43% of young people in 5 cities don’t feel represented by any politician, and 41% distrust politics

“Young people in the five surveyed cities feel discouraged by various factors, such as disillusionment with democracy in the country and distrust toward current political parties and leaders. These obstacles cause apathy and skepticism among youth, preventing them from taking on active political roles,” said Cristina Stolte, representative of the Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in Bolivia. The study, conducted by KAS and Fundación Aru, highlights that at least 75% of voters in the August 17 general election are aged 18 to 39. When asked what emotions politics inspires, 41% said distrust, 19.7% indifference, 13.7% interest, 9.3% boredom, 7.3% irritation, 6.3% enthusiasm, and 2.7% other. One cited factor is the lack of spaces for young people, they say.

– Some voters want more than economic adjustments—they want to know how they’ll be treated, analyst warns

Following the release of the third voting intention poll, analyst Armando Ortuño observed that some sectors of the electorate demand more than economic reform—they want to understand how they’ll be treated. “There’s an electorate that not only needs a message about adjustments but also about how vulnerable groups will be treated,” he said during UNITEL’s Así Decidimos on Wednesday night. The Ipsos–CIESMORI poll comes at a time when the public reports falling incomes and calls for structural measures to protect vulnerable groups. “Opposition candidates have been more effective at motivating their base, unlike MAS,” he noted, adding this is evident in the latest results. “There’s a failure to listen to people’s problems,” he warned. The expert also highlighted “vote crystallization” in certain sectors.

– “There’s a hidden vote that could be affecting at least 2% of total results,” pollster says about undecided voters

The national voting intention poll for the August 17 elections, released Wednesday by UNITEL and conducted by IPSOS-CIESMORI, reports 8.1% blank votes, 13.6% null, and 12.4% undecided. The pollster went further to analyze the profiles of those who chose these options, which together account for 34.1% of the residual vote. Regarding undecided voters, Luis Garay Langberg, Director of Public Opinion at IPSOS-CIESMORI, explained: “Although they tell us they don’t have a candidate, 10% of them revealed in another part of the questionnaire that they actually do. So, there is clear evidence of a hidden vote that could be affecting at least 2% of the total results.” Undecided voting rose to 12.4% in the third poll—up from 11.3% in the second and 10% in the first.

– How does foreign debt affect low-income groups?

José Gabriel Espinoza, economist and head of the economic team for presidential candidate Samuel Doria Medina, warned that the sustained increase in foreign debt in recent years will directly and negatively impact the population—especially lower-income groups. “As debt grows, future obligations grow. And those can only be paid through higher taxes or monetary issuance, which leads to inflation. One way or another, we all end up paying,” Espinoza explained. He added that if the State chooses to raise taxes, the economy becomes more informal, weakening the labor market and hurting vulnerable groups even more. If the State prints more money, the immediate effect is price increases. “Inflation hits the poor hardest, since they spend almost all their income on consumption and have no way to protect their purchasing power,” he warned on eju.tv’s La Hora Pico.

ByBoris Bueno

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