Guatemalan general election, 2011

Guatemalan presidential election, 2011

11 September 2011 (first round) 6 November 2011 (second round)

125px Nominee Otto Pérez Molina Manuel Baldizón Party PP LIDER Popular vote 2,300,979 1,981,003 Percentage 53.74% 46.26%

President before election Álvaro Colom UNE President-elect Otto Pérez Molina PP

General elections were held in Guatemala on 11 September 2011 in order to elect the President, Vice President, members of Congress, members of the Central American Parliament and mayors and councillors for all municipalities. The Patriotic Party emerged as the largest party in Congress, winning 56 of the 158 seats.

As no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a second round of the presidential election was held on 6 November with Otto Pérez Molina of the PP facing Manuel Baldizón of Renewed Democratic Liberty. Pérez was elected with 53.7% of the vote.

Campaign

Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity and other leftist groups ran under the Broad Front of the Left banner, nominating Rigoberta Menchú as their presidential candidate.

Guatemala's high crime rate was a major issue in the campaign as it sits near the Mexican border that is a conduit for drug trafficking.

Baldizon campaigned on the premise of having Guatemala's football team to the World Cup. Additionally he also promised to tackle poverty and crime, as well as assure workers an extra month's salary every year. He also said he would reinstate the death penalty and televise executions.

Opinion polls

Polls showed Pérez Molina with a lead over other possible candidates.

A poll for the second round showed Pérez Molina with 49.4% to Baldizón's 39.2%; 11% were undecided. A second poll gave Pérez Molina 39.7% to Baldizón's 32.2%, with 28% undecided. A third poll gave Pérez Molina the lead with 45.7% to Baldizón's 37.2% and 17.1% undecided. A final poll had Pérez Molina ahead with 54.6%, Baldizón at 38.7% and undecided at 5.7%.

Former Foreign Minister Edgar Gutierrez said that "the polling methods are inadequate. They've failed to capture how between 25 and 30 per cent of the people intend to vote."

Conduct

Amongst the oberservers for the election were Oscar Almengor, who led a team University of San Carlos.

According to Article 186(c) of the Constitution, the relatives of the President cannot participate in the Presidential election when the relative holds the Presidency. Sandra Torres, former wife of the current president, got divorced to run for the presidency. There were several requests to have a warrant to forbid Sandra Torres from participating in the election. On 9 August 2011, the Constitutional Court upheld a sentence of the Supreme Court preventing Torres from running.

Results

President

On 6 November, Molina declared victory in the election saying that: "For all the Guatemalans who have put their trust in me, I thank you very much. To those Guatemalans who did not vote for Otto Perez, I make a call to unite and to work together in the next four years, leaving aside party colours." Turnout for the runoff was half that of the first round in some regions.

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Otto Pérez Molina	Patriotic Party	1,611,493	36.01	2,300,979	53.74
Manuel Baldizón	Renewed Democratic Liberty	1,038,287	23.20	1,981,003	46.26
Eduardo Suger	Commitment, Renewal and Order	732,842	16.38
Mario Estrada	National Change Union	383,643	8.57
Harold Caballeros	Vision with Values–Encuentro por Guatemala	275,475	6.16
Rigoberta Menchú	Broad Front of the Left (Winaq–URNG–MAIZ–ANN)	146,353	3.27
Juan Gutiérrez	National Advancement Party	123,648	2.76
Patricia de Arzú	Unionist Party	97,381	2.18
Alejandro Giammattei	Social Action Centre	46,395	1.04
Adela Camacho de Torrebiarte	National Development Action	19,038	0.43
Invalid/blank votes		618,675	–	183,136	–
Total		5,093,230	100	4,465,118	100
Registered voters/turnout		7,340,841	69.38	7,340,841	60.83
Source: IFES, IFES

Congress

Of 158 congressmen to be elected, 126 congressmen sought re-election but only 56 were re-elected and 102 new congressmen were elected for the first time since democratic election took root in Guatemala. About 65% of MPs were first time representatives, which was the first time this occurred since the 1995 election.

Party	Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
Patriotic Party	1,171,337	26.62	+10.71	56	+26
National Unity of Hope–Grand National Alliance	993,198	22.57	–16.57	48	–37
National Change Union	417,935	9.50	+5.44	14	+10
Renewed Democratic Liberty	390,319	8.87	New	14	New
Commitment, Renewal and Order	381,652	8.67	New	12	New
Vision with Values–Encuentro por Guatemala	346,557	7.87	+1.70	6	+2
Broad Front of the Left (Winaq–URNG-MAIZ–ANN)	141,938	3.23	–1.39	3	+1
National Advancement Party	137,390	3.12	–1.46	2	–2
Guatemalan Republican Front	120,455	2.74	–7.06	1	–14
Unionist Party	118,788	2.70	–3.40	1	–7
Victory	71,501	1.62	New	1	New
Social Action Centre	47,390	1.08	–3.81	0	–5
National Development Action	39,251	0.89	New	0	New
National Convergence Front	23,272	0.53	New	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	689,047	–	–	–	–
Total	5,090,030	100	–	158	0
Registered voters/turnout	7,340,841	69.34	–	–	–
Source: IFES

External links

• Tribunal Supremo Electoral (Spanish)
• Elecciones Generales 2011 (Spanish)
• Resultados Elecciones Generales y al Parlamento Centroamericano 2011 (Spanish)