En 1956 se celebró la primera elección con sufragio universal de la historia boliviana. Para la ocasión se fundó la Corte Nacional Electoral (CNE), cuya historia retrata el artículo. La primera etapa corre de 1956 hasta 1985, cuando su funcionamiento no era permanente y muchos comicios se celebraron bajo un manto de sospechas de irregularidades por el dominio del gobierno sobre la institución; la segunda va desde 1985 hasta 1991, en ella el organismo electoral desarrolla sus actividades de forma constante y los partidos lo controlan provocando dudas sobre la legitimidad de los resultados; la última abarca desde 1991 hasta 2007, cuando el sistema político acuerda conformar una CNE auténticamente imparcial e independiente, exigiéndole la celebración de elecciones irreprochables que aseguren una fuerte legitimidad de origen a las autoridades elegidas. El estudio presta atención a las disposiciones legales que rigen las tareas del organismo electoral pero sobre todo intenta comprender su acción considerando el contexto político, intelectual y social en el cual las cumplió.
In 1956, the first election with universal suffrage in Bolivia�s history was carried out. For this process, the National Electoral Court (CNE) was founded, whose subsequent history is presented in this article. The first phase of the CNE, from 1956 to 1985, was one during which it did not function on a permanent basis and many electoral processes were carried out under a cloud of suspicion of irregularities due to government control over the organization. The second phase runs from 1985 to 1991, and in this period the electoral management body is established on a permanent basis but under the control of the political parties, resulting in doubts about the legitimacy of the results. In the last phase, from 1991 to 2007, the political system agreed to establish a CNE which was authentically impartial and independent, demanding that it oversee irreproachable elections which would thus assure elected authorities a strong legitimacy. This article examines the legal provisions which govern the functioning of the electoral organization, but above all it seeks to understand the CNE�s actions by considering the political, intellectual and social context in which they were carried out.