Healthcare workers lift a man who was lying on the ground outside the General Hospital into a wheelchair to be taken to the emergency room that treats people suspected of having COVID-19 in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, July 23, 2020. Police in Bolivia's major cities have recovered the bodies of hundreds of suspected victims of the coronavirus from homes, vehicles, and in some instances, the streets. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
The Associated Press
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Bolivia's highest electoral authority on Thursday delayed presidential elections by more than a month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal moved the election date from Sep. 6 to Oct. 18, the third time the vote has been delayed.
The president of the tribunal, Salvador Romero, told reporters that Bolivian and international experts had advised the body that the uncontrolled spread of the novel coronavirus in the country made holding the election in September unfeasible.
The party of former President Evo Morales, who was ousted last year and replaced by an interim president, objected to delaying the vote and insisted that Bolivia's Legislative Assembly must approve any change in the date.
Morales' party, the Movement Toward Socialism, controls the Assembly. Romero insisted that legislative approval was not necessary.
Morales has said vote delays would extend the country's crisis of legitimacy, make it even harder to govern, and would worsen the pandemic.
Bolivia has more than 64,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and more than 2,300 deaths, a toll that is overwhelming its hospitals and other infrastructure. Romero said cases could be peaking between now and September.
A healthcare worker dressed in protective gear pushes the body of a man to the spot where his family will wait for a funeral home to take him away, outside the General Hospital in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, July 23, 2020. According to a hospital health worker, the man died of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
The Associated Press
A man on the ground waits to be admitted to the emergency room at the General Hospital in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, July 23, 2020. The man was picked up by health workers and put in a wheelchair to be taken to the ER that receives suspected COVID-19 cases. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
The Associated Press
A firefighter disinfects outside the General Hospital in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, July 23, 2020. Police in Bolivia's major cities have recovered the bodies of hundreds of suspected victims of the coronavirus from homes, vehicles, and, in some instances, the streets. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
The Associated Press
Women look at the body of a male relative on a bed outside the General Hospital where they wait for his body is taken away by a funeral home in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, July 23, 2020. According to a hospital health worker, the man died of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
The Associated Press