General elections were held in Bolivia on 9 July 1978.[3] The elections were the first held since 1966, with several military coups taking place during the late 1960s and early 1970s.[3] Although Juan Pereda of the Nationalist Union of the People won the presidential elections according to official statements, more votes were cast than there were registered voters.[4] After examining a number of allegations of fraud and other irregularities, the Electoral Court decided to annul the results on 20 July.[5] The following day, Pereda was installed as President following a military coup. Pereda himself was overthrown by yet another military coup in November, which saw General David Padilla assume the presidency.[6]Fresh elections were held the following year, with Padilla transferring power to his democratically elected successor, Wálter Guevara.
The official results were inconsistent; the reported total number of votes cast was 1,971,968, around 50,000 more than the number of registered voters (1,921,556), giving a turnout of 102.6%. However, the total of votes cast for each party and invalid votes was 1,990,671, nearly 20,000 higher than the reported total and representing a turnout of 103.6%.[8]
^Coalition consisting of more than 11 parties including MNRI, MIR, PCB, MPLN, VO, and PS-A.
^On its ballot, the MNRP presented its leader, Jaime Arellano, as Pereda's running mate instead of Alfredo Franco Guachalla.
^The MNRP presented Juan Pereda as their candidate on a separate ballot from the UNP, resulting in different vote totals. Pereda won 986,140 votes (50.90%) on the UNP ballot and 40,905 (2.11%) votes on the MNRP ballot.
^René Bernal Escalante did not accept this candidacy, but nonetheless received votes.
^The PRO presented René Bernal Escalante as their candidate on a separate ballot from the PDC, resulting in different vote totals. Bernal won 167,131 votes (8.63%) on the PDC-PRB ballot and 1,171 votes (0.06%) on the PRO ballot.
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