The nearly 3,500 centers licensed to vote are sending out the transcripts of an election that took place with five incidents of violence and several calls for respect of the final verdict.
The Preliminary Electoral Results Transmission System (TREP) currently registers only 15 percent of the processed certifications (3,669 out of 24,585), which analysts say is not yet a definitive trend.
In the race for the presidency, Sandra Torres of the National Unity of Hope has 14.5 percent, followed by Bernardo Arévalo of Semilla (13.3) and Manuel Conde of Vamos (8.3 percent).
Of the votes cast on the 22 party proposals, 16.8 percent were invalid and 6.7 percent were empty.
After an election campaign marked by the exclusion of candidates and the persecution of the press, there is uncertainty among Guatemalans, who mistrust the transparency of the authorities and possible change.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) confirmed five violent incidents, two of them clashes between local residents and police, who used tear gas to disperse protests over alleged anomalies.
Voting has been suspended in the municipality of San José del Golfo, northeast of this capital, according to the electoral authority, as has San Martín Zapotitlán, south of Guatemala City.
President Alejandro Giammattei voted half an hour before polling stations closed (6pm local time) without commenting on allegations of alleged irregularities, but blamed opposition groups for inciting violence.
“We’re trying to get everything (the unrest) under control as quickly as possible,” said the president, who polls show will end his government with just 24 percent approval.
The general elections in this Central American territory will elect the President, Vice President, 160 members of Congress, 20 members of the Central American Parliament and 340 municipal mayors for the period 2024-2028.
If one of the candidates does not get 50 percent plus one of the votes, a second round of voting will take place on Sunday, August 20th, in which the two couples who had the majority of the votes at the first round will take part.
Since 1985, when Guatemala’s democratic era began, no candidate for the highest office in the state has won an absolute majority of valid votes on the first ballot.
jf/znc