By: Staff Writer
August 15, 2023
Guatemala’s anticipated presidential election runoff is heading into this coming Sunday’s election day with some controversy as one candidate’s campaign headquarters is raided by the police.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Guatemala began last Sunday the distribution of ballots in the most remote districts of the country, while more than 42,000 police officers will be deployed for the second round of elections scheduled for next August 20.
“The electoral boxes, which contain the supplies to carry out the elections of August 20, are already being distributed throughout the country,” the electoral body announced in its social networks.
More than 19.4 million printed ballots will cover the more than 25,500 polling stations nationwide for the second round of the elections, in which the presidential candidates Sandra Torres Casanova of the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) and Bernardo Arévalo of the Movimiento Semilla will face each other.
Voters are set to choose between Congressman Bernardo Arevalo of the progressive Seed Movement and Sandra Torres, a former first lady representing the conservative National Unity of Hope (UNE) party.
The weeks leading up to the run-off have been contentious though, spurring worries about the democratic process in Guatemala.
Arevalo surpassed expectations when he emerged as one of two victors in the initial round of voting on June 25. But the results triggered a backlash among the political establishment.
Rival political parties called for a review of the votes, and when that process upheld the results, the public prosecutor’s office sought to suspend Arevalo’s party, on the basis that the signatures used to form the Seed Movement were fraudulent.
Torres won 16% of the first-round vote in June with Arévalo coming in with 11.8% of the votes cast. Still, more than 24% of voters cast blank or invalid votes and about 40% of registered voters abstained, which analysts have attributed to high levels of disenchantment with Guatemala’s electoral system after the state disqualified opposition candidates who spoke out against corruption.
As an outsider candidate, Arévalo’s surprise run in the second round has reinvigorated this year’s presidential cycle, which has been plagued by allegations of government interference and fears of democratic backsliding.
Arévalo’s offices were raided by Guatemalan police this past Friday, in a move he labelled as “corrupt.”
Police said they were carrying out a July 12 court order that had cancelled his party’s status.
In a post on Twitter, Arévalo derided the raid as a “flagrant demonstration of the political persecution we have denounced”. The presidential hopeful has blamed the police action on a “corrupt minority” but did not go into further detail.
A court ordered the suspension of the party earlier this month shortly after the 25 June first-round presidential vote, in which the center-left Arévalo, running on an anti-corruption platform, secured a surprise second place and advanced to the 20 August runoff.
The targeting of Arévalo’s party has injected turmoil into the race to succeed the outgoing conservative president, Alejandro Giammattei.
Giammattiei is prohibited from running for a second consecutive four year presidential term.