The TSE prepares distribution of seats; according to Tahuichi, Santa Cruz equals La Paz

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has already made the calculation to redistribute the 130 seats that are expected to be taken into account in the 2025 elections, and is now proceeding to verify the data for its official publication, member Tahuichi Tahuichi informed EL DEBER after the plenary meeting.

In this context, the authority of the electoral body announced that Santa Cruz and La Pazwhich are the most populated, They have the same number of seats and one department lost one. However, this is still a possibility because the electoral body is still working on the reallocation of seats.

“We already have the new redistribution of seats. I will say in advance that there is a sort of equalization of seats between Santa Cruz and La Paz. There is a department that is losing seats, we are in that relationship,” Tahuichi said earlier in the day. the media.

Taking into account the statements of the authority, it is expected that if a department lost a seat, it will go to Santa Cruz, the region that, according to the current distribution, has 28 seats, one less than La Paz which has 29. So, with the redistribution, Santa Cruz and La Paz They will have 29 eachto the detriment of a third department that lost representation in Parliament. But Tahuichi refrained from revealing this.

“On a very personal note, without affecting my Plenary Chamber and provisionally, I would like to clarify that it can be noted that in this new distribution there is a sort of equalization in the distribution of seats in 2012 (the last census), in relation to the redistribution of seats in this year’s census. It can be noted that “A department would be losing a seat”Tahuichi said.

Once the TSE obtained the official national and departmental population data, plus the 2023 HDI data, it formed a “national seat distribution commission” that was in charge of carrying out the technical work for the redistribution of seats. Subsequently, the perform data control to verify that the calculation was error-free. “We are testing this mathematical formula that incorporates three criteria: population, economic development, which is measured through the HDI, and the proportionality criterion. These criteria are subject to testing because we do not want to hurt the feelings of any department,” he explained.

According to Law 421 on the distribution of seats between departments, dated October 7, 2013, the department of La Paz has 29 seats: 14 uninominal seats, 14 plurinominal seats and one seat for a special constituency.

In second place is Santa Cruz, which has 28 seats: 14 uninominal, 13 plurinominal and one special constituency seat; Cochabamba has 19 seats: 9 uninominal, 9 plurinominal and one special constituency; Potosí is the fourth department with 13 seats: 7 uninominal and 6 plurinominal; Chuquisaca has 10 seats: 5 uninominal and 5 plurinominal.

In sixth place is Oruro with 9 seats: 4 uninominal, 4 plurinominal and one special constituency; Tarija also has 9 seats: 4 uninominal, 4 plurinominal and one special constituency; Beni has 8 seats: 4 uninominal, 3 plurinominal and one special constituency and in last place is Pando with 5 seats: 2 uninominal, 2 plurinominal and one special constituency. In total, 130 seats.

Analyst Paúl Coca agrees with the calculation made by EL DEBER on the new redistribution and pointed out that with the new Census data, now Santa Cruz wins one more seat reaching La Paz and both would be left with 29 seats. And the question remains as to which department will lose one.