August 18, 2023
The Chief of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) for the elections in Guatemala, former Foreign Minister of Paraguay Eladio Loizaga, arrived today to begin work for the second round of presidential elections to be held on Sunday, August 20, 2023.
The OAS Mission is made up of 86 specialists and observers from 23 countries, and will observe aspects such as organization, technology, justice, and electoral financing in the second round. The OAS/EOM has already observed issues such as: electoral violence, political participation of women, and political participation of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples.
The OAS Electoral Mission has continuously accompanied the electoral process in Guatemala with 5 deployments since May. Prior to the deployment for the second round, the OAS/EOM visited 21 departments of the country and Guatemala City to observe the preparations for the elections on August 20 in the Departmental Electoral Boards (in Spanish, Juntas Electorales Departamentales, JED).
During their work, members of the OAS/EOM will meet with electoral and government authorities, political leaders, representatives of civil society and the international community, to continue gathering information on the ongoing electoral process. Likewise, on election day, the Mission will visit polling stations in all the country’s departments to learn about the progress of election day, from the installation of the polling stations to the transmission of the results.
This is the twenty-second (22) time that the OAS has deployed a Mission to observe electoral processes in Guatemala, and it is possible thanks to financial contributions from Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the United States.
After the second round, the OAS Mission will present a preliminary report with its observations and recommendations with a view to strengthening the electoral processes in the country.