La Paz, May 4 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Bolivian voters from the states of Tarija and Beni went to the ballot box on Sunday in order to elect public officials in the country's gubernatorial run-off elections.

Some 550,000 registered voters cast their ballots at polling stations, according to Bolivian electoral authorities. The ruling Movement Towards Socialism Party (MAS), which won in five of Bolivia’s nine states after the first round of gubernatorial and municipal elections last March, is competing in both states.

In the gas-rich state of Tarija, local opposition candidate Adrian Oliva from the Autonomous Unity Department (UD-A), defeated the MAS candidate Pablo Canedo by 45 percent to 36 percent, failing to secure the 50percent+1 margin of votes needed to avoid a second round against his main challenger.

Meanwhile in the Amazonian state of Beni, the MAS candidate, Alex Ferrier, obtained 41 percent of the vote to 31 percent compared Carlos Dellien of the local opposition party, Nacer.

If MAS wins in a second round in Beni – a traditional opposition stronghold – it would be the first time in a decade that the province wasn’t ruled by the opposition.