LA PAZ, Oct 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A severe shortage of fuel is hampering preparations for Bolivia's presidential run-off, which will see the Andean nation swing right after two decades of leftist rule, an electoral official said Tuesday.

Right-wing former president Jorge Tuto Quiroga and center-right ex-mayor Rodrigo Paz go head-to-head in Sunday's election, which brings the curtain down on two decades of Socialist rule launched by coca farmer Evo Morales in 2005.

The race has been dominated by Bolivia's worst economy in nearly four decades.

Acute shortages of fuel and hard currency, coupled with annual inflation of over 23 percent, has soured voters on the outgoing Socialists.

The president of the electoral tribunal of La Paz, Sonia Yujra told AFP that the fuel shortages, which have led to hours-long lines at filling stations, were also affecting the distribution of ballots.

There is no electronic voting in Bolivia, meaning ballots must be distributed to every polling station nationwide by hand.

"We're worried about the lack of fuel supplies," Yujra said, adding that the shortage was affecting the distribution of election materials in the administrative capital.

With some 9,100 polling stations, La Paz is the second-most populous department in Bolivia after eastern Santa Cruz department.

"If we don't get fuel in a timely manner, the commissions' ability to leave on time (for the election) will be jeopardized," Yujra said.

The government of outgoing president Luis Arce has nearly used up the country's dollar reserves to maintain costly fuel subsidies.

Both Quiroga and Paz have said they will cut fuel subsidies, except for public transport companies and vulnerable economic sectors.