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OAS notes high turnout in Guatemala elections; expresses concern over the slow delivery of the results

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, said today that "beyond the difficulties and problems, the Guatemalan people have been able to express their will. We hope that the runoff election is carried out in a climate of peace and cooperation between the different sectors of the country. "

The OAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM/OAS), headed by former Ambassador Jose Octavio Bordon, noted the punctual opening of polling locations by the designated poll workers. It also stressed the high level of participation by Guatemalan citizens who had significant access to helpful voter information, ultimately facilitating the electoral process.

The mission commended the officials of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) in the field who efficiently resolved inquiries and questions from voters, and responded well to assisting citizens with special needs.

Working in the 22 geographic departments throughout Guatemala, the 86 EOM/OAS observers ascertained that in 62% of observed cases the electoral rolls were in plain sight and a high percentage of public prosecutors (attorneys) of political parties were present, which contributed to the transparency of the electoral process.

The Mission noted with concern, however, that in many cases, citizens had to wait in long lines and for an extended time to vote; a logistical fault of the electoral organization. Also, some voters did not have proper locale information prior to their going to vote and arrived at locations that did not correspond to their registered polling sites, complicating the voting process.

The EOM/OAS received claims of people being taken to vote in different places of the country. Nevertheless, the Mission states that the political parties received the voters’ registration well in advance of election day for review. The right to vote must be guarantee for all citizens registered at a polling station. In this sense, the Mission received complaints about roadblocks and other actions aimed at restricting citizens from voting. There were also reports of vote buying. These claims will be referred to the electoral authority for resolution.

Regarding security, the Mission highlighted that election day was calm except for a few incidents. The EOM/OAS urged authorities to focus their efforts on those places were incidents took place.

As the day progressed, the EOM/OAS was on alert because of the slow vote tabulation, which could be due to the high voter turnout and the subsequent large number of ballots cast, or to existing deficiencies in the training of poll workers.

The Mission viewed with great concern the slowness with which the Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced the preliminary results. It is hoped that authorities will take all appropriate measures in the runoff election to improve the problems related to results transmission and data entry.

Additionally, the Guatemala EOM/OAS developed two pilot methodologies on key issues for strengthening democracy in Latin America: financing policy and gender participation. After observations, the Mission found the following:

In terms of financing, and according to data submitted by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, electoral law specifies that public funding be equivalent to USD$2 per legally cast vote in favor of each political party in the previous election. Public financing with respect to total campaign expenditure is virtually irrelevant. Low percentages indicate that election campaigns are funded mostly by private sources with little control or transparency, which is why the Mission believes that in this scenario, political parties may lose independence before economic powers, both legal and illegal, which affects the legitimacy and competitive fairness in the electoral process, with the consequent difficulty of exercising proper control in the field of financing parties. The equality and transparency of public and private financing is essential in strengthening a full-fledged democracy.

While the EOM/OAS highlights the effort the TSE has made to control campaign spending; there is an evident weakness in the sanctions system to make political parties comply with current legislation regarding the maximum established by law. In practice, this will not contribute to reduce costs nor promote equity.

In regard to women’s participation, the Mission was pleased to observe an increase of 33% of women registered to vote, representing 50.9% of the registry. This is an historical figure because for the first time in the democratic history of Guatemala, the female electorate exceeds more than half of registered voters. Also noteworthy was the high level of participation of women as members of the Voting Reception Boards.

However, previous data are not reflected in the participation of women as candidates, which was only 14.5% of all candidacies in this election with even lower percentages of female candidates elected. The Mission calls for analysis of this low figure, urging the need of political parties in promoting the participation of women in the electoral process.

The EOM/OAS urges citizens to wait for official results to be announced by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and will continue to observe the election process for the presidential runoff.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-834/11