# 2019 Guatemalan general election

General elections were held in Guatemala on 16 June 2019, to elect the president, Congress and local councils. A second round of the presidential elections was held on 11 August 2019, since no candidate won a majority in the first round. Alejandro Giammattei won the election in the second round of voting.
Incumbent President Jimmy Morales was constitutionally barred from running for a second four-year term.

## Electoral system

The president of Guatemala is elected using the two-round system.
The 160 members of Congress are elected by two methods; 130 are elected from 22 multi-member constituencies based on the departments, with the remaining 31 elected from a single nationwide constituency. Seats are elected using closed list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method.

## Candidates

Thelma Aldana's candidature was rejected by authorities in April 2019 on the grounds of alleged corruption cases concerning her, although no evidence was presented. She denied the accusations and attributes them to what she calls the "pact of the corrupt", composed of politicians and business leaders of the country. As former attorney general, she had uncovered several major corruption cases. Aldana appealed the ruling, but the appeal was rejected in May 2019.
The candidature of Zury Ríos, daughter of Guatemalan dictator from 1982 to 1983 Efraín Ríos Montt, was rejected by authorities in May 2019 on the grounds that the country's constitution bars close relatives of coup leaders from serving as president.
In April 2019, centre-right candidate Mario Estrada was arrested. He is accused by the American authorities of having made a deal with the Sinaloa cartel, from which he allegedly obtained between 10 and 12 million dollars for his election campaign, and of having ordered the murder of rival candidates.
| Party | Presidential candidate | Vice presidential candidate |
| PAN–P | Roberto Arzú | José Antonio Farias |
| Todos | Fredy Cabrera | Ricardo Sagastume |
| MLP | Thelma Cabrera | Neftalí López |
| URNG | Pablo Ceto | Blanca Estela Colop |
| PPT | José Luis Chea | Guillermo González |
| PU | Pablo Duarte | Roberto Villeda |
| CREO | Julio Héctor Estrada | Yara Argueta |
| VIVA | Isaac Farchi Sultán | Ricardo Flores Asturias |
| FCN | Estuardo Galdámez | Betty Marroquín Silva |
| Libre | Aníbal García | Carlos Pérez |
| Vamos | Alejandro Giammattei | Guillermo Castillo |
| EG | Manfredo Marroquín | Oscar Adolfo Morales |
| C | Benito Morales | Claudia Mariana Valiente |
| PHG | Edmond Mulet | Jorge Pérez |
| Victoria | Amílcar Rivera | Erico Can Saquic |
| Avanza | Danilo Roca Barillas | Manuel Martínez |
| UNE | Sandra Torres | Carlos Raúl Morales |
| Unidos | Luis Velásquez Quiroga | Arturo Soto |
| Winaq | Manuel Villacorta | Izabel Hernández |

### Declined candidates

* Manuel Baldizón: deputy of the Congress 2004-2008, secretary-general of Renewed Democratic Liberty 2010-2014, presidential candidate in 2011 and 2015.
* Ernest Steve "Neto" Bran: Mayor of Mixco since 2016.
* Jorge Pérez: Secretary of Executive Coordination of the Presidency 2000-2002.
* Erik Súñiga: Mayor of Ayutla, San Marcos, 2008-2020.
* Nineth Montenegro: Deputy of the Congress by National List since 1996, Second Vice President of the Congress 2012-2013, General Secretary of the Encuentro de Guatemala since 2007.

## Debates

2019 Guatemalan general election debates :
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | P Present  P Present but his candidacy was revoked  NI Non-invitee  A Absent invitee | P Present  P Present but his candidacy was revoked  NI Non-invitee  A Absent invitee | P Present  P Present but his candidacy was revoked  NI Non-invitee  A Absent invitee | P Present  P Present but his candidacy was revoked  NI Non-invitee  A Absent invitee | P Present  P Present but his candidacy was revoked  NI Non-invitee  A Absent invitee | P Present  P Present but his candidacy was revoked  NI Non-invitee  A Absent invitee |
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | Arzú PAN–P | Escobar PC | Estrada CREO | Giammattei Vamos | Mulet PHG | Torres UNE |
| 2 June | AGG | Luis Felipe Valenzuela Marielos Fuentes | P | P | P | P | P | A |
| 28 July | AGG | Luis Felipe Valenzuela Marielos Fuentes | | | | P | | A |

## Results
### President

| Candidate | Candidate | Running mate | Party | First round | First round | Second round | Second round |
| Candidate | Candidate | Running mate | Party | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | Sandra Torres | Carlos Raúl Morales | National Unity of Hope | 1,112,939 | 25.42 | 1,384,044 | 42.05 |
| | Alejandro Giammattei | Guillermo Castillo Reyes | Vamos | 608,083 | 13.89 | 1,907,767 | 57.95 |
| | Edmond Mulet | Jorge Pérez | Humanist Party of Guatemala | 493,710 | 11.28 | | |
| | Thelma Cabrera | Neftalí López | Movement for the Liberation of Peoples | 452,260 | 10.33 | | |
| | Roberto Arzú | José Antonio Farias | National Advancement Party–Podemos | 267,049 | 6.10 | | |
| | Isaac Farchi | Ricardo Flores Asturias | Vision with Values | 259,616 | 5.93 | | |
| | Manuel Villacorta | Izabel Hernández | Winaq | 229,362 | 5.24 | | |
| | Estuardo Galdámez | Betty Marroquín Silva | National Convergence Front | 180,414 | 4.12 | | |
| | Julio Héctor Estrada | Yara Argueta | Commitment, Renewal and Order | 165,031 | 3.77 | | |
| | Fredy Cabrera | Ricardo Sagastume | Todos | 138,333 | 3.16 | | |
| | Amílcar Rivera | Erico Can Saquic | Victory | 111,998 | 2.56 | | |
| | Pablo Ceto | Blanca Estela Colop | Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity | 94,531 | 2.16 | | |
| | Pablo Duarte | Roberto Villeda | Unionist Party | 62,679 | 1.43 | | |
| | Manfredo Marroquín | Oscar Adolfo Morales | Encuentro por Guatemala | 50,594 | 1.16 | | |
| | Aníbal García | Carlos Pérez | Libre | 41,800 | 0.95 | | |
| | Benito Morales | Claudia Mariana Valiente | Convergence | 37,579 | 0.86 | | |
| | Luis Velásquez Quiroa | Arturo Soto | Unidos | 26,921 | 0.61 | | |
| | José Luis Chea Urruela | Mario Guillermo González | Productivity and Work Party | 23,962 | 0.55 | | |
| | Danilo Roca | Manuel Martínez | Avanza | 21,410 | 0.49 | | |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 4,378,271 | 100.00 | 3,291,811 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 4,378,271 | 86.86 | 3,291,811 | 94.68 |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 209,444 | 4.16 | 151,047 | 4.34 |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | Blank votes | Blank votes | 452,708 | 8.98 | 33,900 | 0.98 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,040,423 | 100.00 | 3,476,758 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 8,150,221 | 61.84 | 8,150,221 | 42.66 |
| Source: TSE ||||||||

### Congress

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats | +/– |
| | National Unity of Hope | 717,204 | 17.81 | 7 | 731,015 | 17.43 | 47 | 54 | +26 |
| | Vamos | 320,939 | 7.97 | 3 | 331,810 | 7.91 | 13 | 16 | New |
| | National Change Union | 218,914 | 5.44 | 2 | 243,757 | 5.81 | 10 | 12 | +6 |
| | Semilla | 211,691 | 5.26 | 2 | 215,669 | 5.14 | 5 | 7 | New |
| | National Convergence Front | 210,307 | 5.22 | 2 | 227,144 | 5.42 | 6 | 8 | –27 |
| | Bienestar Nacional | 194,067 | 4.82 | 2 | 209,206 | 4.99 | 6 | 8 | +8 |
| | Vision with Values | 189,467 | 4.70 | 2 | 181,588 | 4.33 | 5 | 7 | +3 |
| | Humanist Party of Guatemala | 188,234 | 4.67 | 2 | 186,776 | 4.45 | 4 | 6 | New |
| | Valor | 183,814 | 4.56 | 1 | 215,338 | 5.14 | 8 | 9 | New |
| | Commitment, Renewal and Order | 177,681 | 4.41 | 1 | 189,654 | 4.52 | 5 | 6 | +1 |
| | Todos | 177,182 | 4.40 | 1 | 205,144 | 4.89 | 6 | 7 | –9 |
| | Winaq | 141,252 | 3.51 | 1 | 144,314 | 3.44 | 3 | 4 | +3 |
| | Citizen Prosperity | 131,694 | 3.27 | 1 | 152,540 | 3.64 | 2 | 3 | New |
| | Movement for the Liberation of Peoples | 121,743 | 3.02 | 1 | 123,084 | 2.94 | 0 | 1 | New |
| | Unionist Party | 118,337 | 2.94 | 1 | 109,736 | 2.62 | 2 | 3 | +2 |
| | Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity | 112,037 | 2.78 | 1 | 116,943 | 2.79 | 2 | 3 | +2 |
| | National Advancement Party | 110,016 | 2.73 | 1 | 104,900 | 2.50 | 1 | 2 | –1 |
| | Victory | 101,418 | 2.52 | 1 | 71,630 | 1.71 | 2 | 3 | +3 |
| | Fuerza | 77,862 | 1.93 | 0 | 99,090 | 2.36 | 0 | 0 | –1 |
| | Encuentro por Guatemala | 71,668 | 1.78 | 0 | 66,250 | 1.58 | 0 | 0 | –6 |
| | Podemos | 67,610 | 1.68 | 0 | 77,756 | 1.85 | 1 | 1 | –11 |
| | Convergence | 49,284 | 1.22 | 0 | 51,024 | 1.22 | 0 | 0 | –3 |
| | Libre | 48,267 | 1.20 | 0 | 51,518 | 1.23 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Avanza | 31,750 | 0.79 | 0 | 24,735 | 0.59 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Productivity and Work Party | 29,729 | 0.74 | 0 | 30,656 | 0.73 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Unidos | 25,258 | 0.63 | 0 | 32,111 | 0.77 | 0 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 4,027,425 | 100.00 | 32 | 4,193,388 | 100.00 | 128 | 160 | 2 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 4,027,425 | 79.72 | | | | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 1,024,405 | 20.28 | | | | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 5,051,830 | 100.00 | | | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 8,150,221 | 61.98 | | | | | | |
| Source: TSE, TSE, IPU ||||||||||

### Central American Parliament

| | National Unity of Hope | 626,821 | 18.84 | 5 | +1 |
| | Vamos | 297,042 | 8.93 | 2 | New |
| | National Change Union | 226,732 | 6.81 | 2 | +1 |
| | National Convergence Front | 213,392 | 6.41 | 2 | – |
| | Valor | 178,587 | 5.37 | 1 | New |
| | Bienestar Nacional | 174,465 | 5.24 | 1 | +1 |
| | Todos | 172,170 | 5.17 | 1 | –1 |
| | Commitment, Renewal and Order | 165,832 | 4.98 | 1 | +1 |
| | Vision with Values | 161,474 | 4.85 | 1 | – |
| | Citizen Prosperity | 136,204 | 4.09 | 1 | New |
| | Winaq | 115,425 | 3.47 | 1 | +1 |
| | Semilla | 108,731 | 3.27 | 1 | New |
| | Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity | 106,373 | 3.20 | 1 | – |
| | Victory | 100,789 | 3.03 | 0 | New |
| | National Advancement Party | 99,730 | 3.00 | 0 | – |
| | Unionist Party | 92,968 | 2.79 | 0 | –1 |
| | Fuerza | 81,762 | 2.46 | 0 | – |
| | Podemos | 64,905 | 1.95 | 0 | – |
| | Encuentro por Guatemala | 56,943 | 1.71 | 0 | –1 |
| | Convergence | 49,595 | 1.49 | 0 | – |
| | Avanza | 34,211 | 1.03 | 0 | New |
| | Libre | 41,671 | 1.25 | 0 | New |
| | Unidos | 21,822 | 0.66 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 3,327,644 | 100.00 | 20 | +2 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,327,644 | 65.97 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 1,716,408 | 34.03 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 5,044,052 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 8,086,526 | 62.38 | | |
| Source: Supreme Electoral Tribunal ||||||

### Municipal

| Party | Party | C. | M. | % | ± |
| | National Advancement Party | 41 | | | |
| | Valor | 156 | | | New |
| | Todos | 161 | | | |
| | Podemos | 76 | 2 | | |
| | Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity | 75 | 5 | | |
| | National Unity of Hope | 314 | 109 | | |
| | Unionist Party | 111 | | | |
| | Bienestar Nacional | 130 | | | |
| | National Change Union | 206 | | | |
| | Encuentro por Guatemala | 58 | | | |
| | Vision with Values | 115 | | | |
| | National Convergence Front | 205 | | | |
| | Convergence | 57 | | | |
| | Commitment, Renewal and Order | 132 | | | |
| | Victoria | 59 | | | |
| | Winaq | 54 | | | |
| | Fuerza | 152 | | | |
| | Unidos | 44 | | | New |
| | Productivity and Work Party | 36 | | | New |
| | Vamos | 255 | | | New |
| | Avanza | 47 | | | New |
| | Humanist Party of Guatemala | 123 | | | New |
| | Movement for the Liberation of Peoples | 109 | | | New |
| | Citizen Prosperity | 120 | | | New |
| | Semilla | 143 | 3 | | New |
| | Libre | 69 | | | New |
| | Civic committees | 121 | | | – |
| Total | Total | 3,169 | 340 | 100 | 0 |
| Source: Supreme Electoral Tribunal ||||||