Presidency at stake in Guatemala vote

People line up to vote Sunday at a polling station in Sumpango, Guatemala.
People line up to vote Sunday at a polling station in Sumpango, Guatemala.

GUATEMALA CITY -- Early results in Guatemala's presidential election showed a former first lady in the lead in a nation where tens of thousands of people have fled poverty and gang violence to seek new lives in the United States.

Three hours after polls closed, but with votes tallied from just 13% of polling centers, former first lady Sandra Torres had captured more than 22% of the vote, followed by four-time presidential candidate Alejandro Giammattei with 16%. There were 19 candidates vying for the presidency.

No candidate was on pace to win the more than 50% of votes needed to assume the post, raising the chances of a runoff election that would likely take place in August. Presidents are limited to a single four-year term.

The next president of the Central American country will be tasked starting in January with attempting to stem growing violence, poverty and outward migration. An estimated 1% of Guatemala's population of about 16 million people has left the country this year.

Guatemalans are also clamoring for a crackdown on corruption: Three of the past four elected leaders have been arrested post-presidency on corruption charges.

"There is a belief that instead of advancing in these four years of government, we've gone backward," said Marco Rene Cuellar, 39, the first to vote at the Mixed Rural School in the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula. "We've lost our way as a country, but we should not lose faith in the democratic process we have."

Voters chose from among 19 candidates, with more than 8.1 million citizens also eligible to vote for the vice president, congressional representatives and mayors.

The election marked the first time that Guatemalans could cast ballots from abroad: At least 60,000 were eligible to vote in Los Angeles, New York, Maryland and Washington, D.C., all home to large numbers of Guatemalan emigres.

Businessman Roberto Arzu, diplomat Edmond Auguste Mulet Lesieur and indigenous human-rights advocate Thelma Cabrera rounded out the top five candidates for the presidency.

On Sunday, municipal officials and police stood guard as many waited in line to cast their ballots in an election dinged by threats of violence and possible fraud.

To the east of the capital, in the Zacapa department, voting stations didn't open in the San Jorge municipality after organizers were threatened with violence. More than 7,000 people were unable to cast votes there. Voting was also called off in Esquipulas Palo Gordo, near the border with Mexico in the San Marcos department, amid accusations of vote-buying.

The attorney general's office opened an investigation after a voter posted a video to social media showing how her ballot was allegedly already marked for Torres.

The campaign season was marked by a chaotic flurry of court rulings, shenanigans, illegal party-switching and allegations of malfeasance that torpedoed the runs of two of the three front-runners, including chief prosecutor Thelma Aldana.

Outgoing President Jimmy Morales took office in 2016 promising to root out corruption after his predecessor was brought down by an investigation led by the U.N.'s International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala. But Morales soon became a target of the commission over allegations of campaign finance violations, starting a dispute with the agency in which he terminated its mandate.

photo

AP/MOISES CASTILLO

A man in Sumpango, Guatemala, casts his vote Sunday in the country’s presidential election. Nineteen candidates vied for a four-year presidential term after allegations of wrong- doing forced two front-runners from the race. An absolute majority was needed for an outright victory, making a runoff election likely.

A Section on 06/17/2019

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