Guatemalan general election, 2007

Guatemalan presidential election, 2007

9 September and 4 November 2007

Nominee Álvaro Colom Otto Pérez Molina Party UNE PP Popular vote 1,449,153 1,294,645 Percentage 52.82% 47.18%

President before election Óscar Berger GANA President-elect Álvaro Colom UNE

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A general election was held in Guatemala in two rounds on 9 September and 4 November 2007. Voters went to the polls to elect a new President and Vice President of the Republic, 158 congressional deputies, and 332 mayors.

Results

A total of fifteen parties contested the election, though one of them (the Front for Democracy) did not field a candidate for the presidential election.

Presidential election

Around 60% of the voting public participated in 9 September first-round vote. However, no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote, and so a run-off election was held between Álvaro Colom of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) and former Army General Otto Pérez Molina of the Patriotic Party (PP) on 4 November 2007.

The ruling Grand National Alliance (GANA), after placing third in the first-round vote, declined to endorse either Colom or Pérez Molina for the second round.

With 97.23% of the vote counted in the second round, Colom was declared the winner with just over 52 percent.

Congressional election

The National Unity of Hope (UNE) made huge gains in the election, receiving 27.08%, nearly 10 percentage points more than November 2003. The Patriotic Party (PP), which ran independent of the Grand National Alliance (GANA), received 24.97% of the vote. GANA itself received 18.28% of the vote.

Presidential and vice-presidential candidates

A full list appears on the Electoral Court's website.

• Óscar Castañeda (VP: Roger Valenzuela) for the National Advancement Party (PAN)
• Vinicio Cerezo Blandón (VP: Pablo Ramírez Rivas) for Guatemalan Christian Democracy (DCG). Cerezo Blandón is the son of Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, who served as president from 1986 to 1991.
• Álvaro Colom (VP: José Rafael Espada) for the National Unity of Hope (UNE). Colom was the runner-up in the 2003 presidential election.
• Manuel Conde Orellana (VP: Juan Francisco Manrique) for the Democratic Union (UD)
• Mario Estrada (VP: Mario Torres Marroquín) for the Nationalist Change Union (UCN).
• Fritz García-Gallont (VP: Enrique Godoy García Granados) for the Unionist Party (PU).
• Alejandro Giammattei (VP: Alfredo Vila Girón) for the Grand National Alliance (GANA). Giammattei served as director of the national prison service under GANA president Óscar Berger.
• Pablo Monsanto (VP: Mariano Portillo Lemus) for the New Nation Alliance (ANN).
• Rigoberta Menchú (VP: Luis Fernando Montenegro) for the Encounter for Guatemala (EG) party. Menchú is a K'iche' Maya and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Press reports in late August reported that she had withdrawn from the race because of financial constraints and low levels of support; these reports were false.
• Otto Pérez Molina (VP: Ricardo Castillo Sinibaldi) for the Patriotic Party. Pérez Molina is a retired army general who was active in the Civil War.
• Luis Rabbé (VP: Haroldo Quej Chen) for the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG)
• Héctor Rosales (VP: Carlos Pérez Rodríguez) for Authentic Integral Development (DIA).
• Miguel Ángel Sandoval (VP: Walda Barrios Ruiz) for Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity–MAIZE (URNG–MAIZ).
• Eduardo Suger (VP: Erwin Lobos Ríos) for the Social Action Centre (CASA).

Polls

Voting intention (%)

Poll by	Date	Colom	Pérez	Giammattei	Menchú	Suger	Undecided
Siglo XXI [1]	Nov. 2007	47.4	52.6	-	-	-	-
BGC [2]	Nov. 2007	48.0	52.0	-	-	-	-
Prensa Libre [3]	Nov. 2007	47.0	53.0	-	-	-	-
El Periódico [4]	Nov. 2007	39.4	35.1	-	-	-	25.5
El Periódico [5]	Oct. 2007	37.3	39.8	-	-	-	22.9
Siglo XXI [6]	Oct. 2007	46.2	53.8	-	-	-	-
Prensa Libre [7]	Oct. 2007	45.6	54.4	-	-	-	-
Prensa Latina [8]	September 2007	34.7	26.8	13.3
Siglo XXI [9]	September 2007	41.4	39.3	9.5	5
Prensa Libre [10]	September 2007	31.7	31.8	14.6	3.1	4.5	27.6
El Periódico [11]	Aug. 2007	30.7	27.7	10.5	5.7	1.7	16.7
Prensa Libre [12]	Aug. 2007	22	17.5	7.67	2.42	3.17	28.83
El Periódico [13]	Jul. 2007	33	23.1	8.9	5.5		18.5
Prensa Libre[14]	Jul. 2007	21.33	14.42	8.17	2.42	2.5	37.92
El Periódico [15]	Jun. 2007	28	13.2	5.8	6.7		33.4
Prensa Libre [16]	Jun. 2007	20.75	12.25	8.17	1.5	1
El Periódico [17]	May 2007	25.9	15.3	5.6	6.2		36
Prensa Libre [18]	May 2007	20.6	11.4	7.1	2.9	1.5
El Periódico [19]	Apr. 2007	28.6	10.4	6.3	5.6		42.3
Prensa Libre [20]	Apr. 2007	26.5	10	9.6	2.75	1.25
El Periódico [21]	Jan. 2007	34.6	15.9	0.2	1.4		29.8
Prensa Libre [22]	Jan. 2007	21.23	10.52	7.54	2.18	0.60

Results

Presidential election

 Summary of the 9 September and 4 November 2007 Guatemalan presidential election results

Candidates — Parties	1st round		2nd round
Votes	%	Votes	%
Álvaro Colom — National Unity of Hope (UNE)	926,244	28.23%	1,449,153	52.82%
Otto Pérez Molina — Patriotic Party (PP)	771,175	23.51%	1,294,645	47.18%
Alejandro Giammattei — Grand National Alliance (GANA)	565,270	17.23%
Eduardo Suger — Social Action Centre (CASA)	244,448	7.45%
Luis Rabbé — Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG)	239,208	7.29%
Mario Estrada — National Change Union (UCN)	103,603	3.16%
Rigoberta Menchú — Encounter for Guatemala (EG)	101,316	3.09%
Fritz García Gallont — Unionist Party (PU)	95,743	2.92%
Óscar Castañeda — National Advancement Party (PAN)	83,826	2.56%
Miguel Ángel Sandoval — Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity–MAIZE (URNG–MAIZ)	70,080	2.14%
Manuel Conde Orellana — Democratic Union (UD)	24,971	0.76%
Pablo Monsanto — New Nation Alliance (ANN)	19,377	0.59%
Héctor Rosales — Authentic Integral Development (DIA)	18,819	0.57%
Vinicio Cerezo Blandón — Guatemalan Christian Democracy (DCG)	16,529	0.50%
Valid votes (turnout 60.5%/48.3%)	3,280,609	100.0%	2,743,798	100.0%
Blank votes	132,983		50,601
Invalid votes	208,260		101,214
Total votes	3,621,852		2,895,613
Source: Tribunal Supremo Electoral

Presidential results by department (2nd round)

Departments	Colom	Pérez Molina	Write-in	None
Alta Verapaz	92,610	81,977	3,656	6,939
Baja Verapaz	22,376	29,087	267	2,035
Chimaltenango	66,089	47,563	373	2,909
Chiquimula	39,094	38,980	574	3,118
Petén	44,204	36,750	1,808	2,471
El Progreso	21,836	17,638	238	895
El Quiché	81,915	60,504	3,679	5,618
Escuintla	95,315	46,550	5,326	4,413
Guatemala	297,114	436,551	20,421	31,171
Huehuetenango	85,218	63,271	3,267	5,184
Izabal	40,210	28,241	2,678	1,926
Jalapa	30,182	28,132	672	1,980
Jutiapa	52,968	45,416	498	2,307
Quetzaltenango	79,654	66,862	632	6,227
Retalhuleu	39,754	25,311	536	2,011
Sacatepéquez	36,644	34,105	175	2,031
San Marcos	92,670	58,837	1,708	6,459
Santa Rosa	45,191	33,700	230	2,340
Sololá	48,928	28,052	838	2,644
Suchitepéquez	67,738	39,717	2,112	3,515
Totonicapán	38,124	18,942	665	3,174
Zacapa	31,515	28,507	236	1,829
Total	1,449,349	1,294,693	50,589	101,196

Parliamentary election

 Summary of the 9 September 2007 Congress of the Republic of Guatemala election results

Parties and alliances	Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
National Unity of Hope (Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza, UNE)	721,988	22.81%	+4.4%	48	+16
Grand National Alliance (Gran Alianza Nacional, GANA)	522,480	16.51%	–7.8%1	37	–101
Patriotic Party (Partido Patriota, PP)	503,442	15.91%	+15.9%1	30	+301
Guatemalan Republican Front (Frente Republicano Guatemalteco, FRG)	310,038	9.80%	–9.9%	15	–28
Encounter for Guatemala (Encuentro por Guatemala, EG)	195,151	6.17%	+6.17%	4	+4
Unionist Party (Partido Unionista, PU)	192,983	6.10%	+0.7%	8	+1
Social Action Centre (Centro de Acción Social, CASA)	154,718	4.89%	+4.9%	5	+5
National Advancement Party (Partido de Avanzada Nacional, PAN)	144,910	4.58%	–6.3%	4	–13
National Change Union (Union del Cambio Nacional, UCN)	128,593	4.06%	+4.1%	4	+4
Guatemalan National Revolucionary Unity–MAIZE (Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca–MAIZ, URNG–MAIZ)	103,480	3.27%	–0.9%	2	±0
Authentic Integral Development (Desarrollo Integral Auténtico, DIA)	45,142	1.43%	–1.6%	—	–1
Democratic Union (Unión Democrática, UD)	44,488	1.41%	–0.8%	1	–1
New National Alliance (Alianza Nueva Nación, ANN)	42,790	1.35%	–3.5%	—	–6
Front for Democracy (Frente por la Democracia, EL FRENTE)	28,798	0.91%	+0.9%	—	±0
Guatemalan Christian Democracy (Democracia Cristiana Guatemalteca, DCG)	26,190	0.83%	–2.4%	—	–1
Valid votes (turnout 60.5%)	3,165,191	100.0	—	158	—
Blank votes	212,615
Invalid votes	244,082
Total votes	3,621,888
Source: Tribunal Supremo Electoral and Prensa Libre 1 In the 2003 election, the Patriotic Party was part of the Grand National Alliance, which has since become a party.

External links

• Elecciones Guatemala (Spanish)