Polling Stations Close in Guatemala

Polling stations closed this Sunday at 18.00 local time in Guatemala, as established by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), and from now on, vote counting takes place. 

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More than 9.3 million Guatemalans were summoned to the polls to elect their president and vice president, as well as a total of 160 deputies to Congress, 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament, and 340 municipal mayors throughout the country for the period 2024–2028.

According to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), during election day, the Public Prosecutor's Office filed 96 complaints of irregularities. It was decided to suspend the elections in the municipality of San José del Golfo for reasons of force majeure and the interest of protecting the integrity of the participants, according to the magistrates of the TSE. 

According to officials, this affects four districts and 24 polling stations, which will be reactivated on the occasion of the second round, scheduled for August 20. If any of the presidential candidates does not obtain 50 percent plus one of the votes, there will be a second round.

The polling stations have closed and the counting of votes has begun. Now in Santa Catarina Pinula, in School 818.

In the municipality of San Martín Zapotitlán, department of Retalhuleu, a group of people burned several ballots that were already marked, which caused the closure of that voting point. Several people have been arrested, and authorities are investigating these events.

According to the president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, there is peace in most of the municipalities, and so far, 195 people have been arrested for irregularities. Giammattei added that there were power outages due to fallen trees as a result of the storm that hit the region on Saturday, and that most of them were solved.

The counting of ballots, five in total for each vote, is being carried out manually by the electoral boards of each polling station. Since Guatemalan law does not count figures electronically, the abstention rate of the more than 9 million eligible voters will also be known in later hours.

According to the polls, among the 22 candidates, the three with the best options to pass to the second round are Sandra Torres, of the National Unity of Hope; Edmond Mulet, of the Cabal party; and Zury Ríos, of the Valor-Unionist coalition.