Centrist leads vote in Bolivia; second round likely, says local TV

The first exit polls in Bolivia showed centrist senator Rodrigo Paz from the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) leading the presidential race on Sunday (17), with 31.3% of the votes, according to a survey released by Unitel TV. Conservative former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, from the Alianza Libre coalition, came in second place with 27.3% of the votes, according to Unitel, indicating that a second round between the two candidates is likely. If no presidential candidate obtains more than 40% of the votes with a lead of at least 10 percentage points, the election will go to a second round scheduled for October 19.