OAS commends organization and high voter turnout in Guatemala despite challenges

Guatemala City, Guatemala — The electoral observation mission (EOM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) to the general elections in Guatemala, led by Juan Pablo Corlazzoli, has congratulated the country’s voters and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on Sunday’s vote.

The commitment of the citizenry to the strengthening of democracy in the country was evidenced by an increase in participation over previous elections.

“The high participation on Sunday is the expression of the citizenry building democracy through the ballot boxes,” said Corlazzoli.

The mission highlighted the responsible work of the members of the polling stations, the party auditors at the voting centers and all the TSE officials during the election. In particular, the mission recognized the TSE for having overcome challenges related to logistics and electoral technology, despite criticisms and its reduced budget, and urged authorities to strengthen the body for the second round of the presidential elections on October 25 and for future elections.

The EOM/OAS said it regrets the incidents of violence that took place in both the pre-electoral stage and on Election Day, which fortunately were isolated and properly addressed by authorities.

The mission will be present in the country until the definitive declaration of the results and will observe the various stages of the process ahead of the second round in the presidential elections. Taking into account that the definitive vote count began on Monday, the EOM/OAS urged political parties to follow the procedures set forth in the law when presenting their challenges.