Former First Lady Sandra Torres (2008–2011) is the number one voting intention According to a survey published on Thursday, Guatemala is not in a position to win the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday, which confirms the expectation of a second round.
The survey was conducted by the consultancy ProDatos and published by the newspaper Prensa Libre. simulated a ballot with 22 candidates for President and it was performed on 1,202 people between June 5 and June 14, with an error rate of 2.8%.
Torres, wife of the late President Álvaro Colom (2008-2012) and running for the third time in the elections, has 21.3% support; followed by the diplomat Edmond Mulet, who is running for the second time, with 13.4%, and Zury Ríos, daughter of the dictator Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983), who also died, with 9.1%.
Within three days, Guatemalans will go to the polls to elect Alejandro Giammattei’s successor. Opponents and international organizations accuse him of repressing judges, prosecutors, journalists and activists, some of whom have been forced to leave the country.
According to the survey, the invalid vote doubled to 13.5%. compared to the previous reading in May, where it was 6.3%, because citizens think the electoral process was not “clean”, the survey said.
The election campaign was marked by controversy, such as the exclusion of four candidates, including businessman Carlos Pinedawho guided the preferences based on criteria described as “arbitrary” by the research organization WOLA (Washington Office for Latin American Affairs).
If none of the candidates get 50% of the votes on Sunday, as the poll shows, A vote will take place on August 20th.