Guatemala votes for brand new president after contentious marketing campaign | Election Information

Voters are additionally electing a vice chairman and 160 representatives within the Guatemalan Congress.

Guatemala is voting in a single The presidential election was fiercely contested Dominated by considerations over corruption and the price of dwelling the choices A second spherical of run-offs was determined in August.

Many Guatemalans expressed disappointment with their presidential election after three opposition candidates have been expelled by the authorities. A lot of null ballots have been anticipated, and consultants stated this might suppress turnout.

Former First Girl Sandra Torres, of the Nationwide Unity of Hope (UNA) occasion, is predicted to win the primary spherical however is predicted to fall wanting the 50 % plus one vote wanted for a transparent victory within the race, which The truthful has come underneath worldwide scrutiny.

The 67-year-old businesswoman has failed sought the presidency twice earlier than. She is allied with the present legislative governing Vamos (Let’s Go) occasion.

Torres completed second within the final two presidential elections, however she and her occasion Face the charges Corruption and unlawful marketing campaign financing. He has denied the allegations and campaigned on a promise to help social packages to fight poverty throughout the nation.

She is up in opposition to greater than 20 different candidates, together with Edmond Molt, a profession diplomat, and Zori Reus, daughter of the late dictator Efrain Reus Mont.

Mulet, 72, is campaigning with the centrist Cable (Spot On) occasion on guarantees to strengthen the financial system and spend money on healthcare, schooling and safety.

His marketing campaign has been accused of being concerned in unlawful youngster adoption operations within the Nineteen Eighties, when hundreds of infants and youngsters have been taken from their households and positioned for adoption overseas. Mulet has refused to take any half on this undertaking.

Ríos, 55, whose Valour occasion was additionally a part of the earlier authorities’s legislative coalition, was allowed to run after the Constitutional Court docket dominated in Might {that a} the rule The ban on relations of those that gained energy in a coup shouldn’t apply to him. She has campaigned on a tough-on-crime agenda.

The race to succeed conservative President Alejandro Giammatti, who is restricted by regulation to 1 time period, has been dominated by a courtroom to dam 4 candidates from the poll, together with the early frontrunner, businessman Carlos Peña.

America and the European Union criticized Pineda’s expulsion, calling the choice “an electoral fraud”.

Roughly 9.2 million Guatemalans are eligible to forged their ballots to elect the nation’s subsequent president and vice chairman, in addition to 160 representatives in Congress.

A whole lot of native positions are additionally up for grabs, similar to 20 seats within the Central American Parliament.

Voting facilities, which opened at 7am (13:00 GMT), are set to shut at 6pm (00:00 GMT on Monday).