2007 Guatemalan general election

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2007 Guatemalan general election
Flag of Guatemala.svg
  2003
2011  
Presidential election
9 September 2007 (first round)
4 November 2007 (second round)
Turnout60.36% (first round) Increase2.svg 2.47pp
48.20% (second round) Increase2.svg 1.42pp
  Foto oficial de Alvaro Colom (cropped) (cropped).jpg Perez Molina cropped.jpg
Nominee Álvaro Colom Otto Pérez Molina
Party UNE PP
Running mate Rafael Espada Ricardo Castillo
Popular vote1,449,5331,295,108
Percentage52.81%47.19%

Resultados por departamento de las elecciones presidenciales de Guatemala de 2007.png
Results by department

President before election

Óscar Berger
GANA

President-elect

Álvaro Colom
UNE

General elections were held in Guatemala on 9 September to elect a new President and Vice President of the Republic, 158 congressional deputies, and 332 mayors. As no presidential candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on 4 November.

Contents

Colom was elected President of Guatemala. It would mark the first time since 1954 that Guatemala had a left wing government. [1]

Presidential and vice-presidential candidates

Opinion polls

PollsterDate Colom Pérez Giammattei Menchú Suger Undecided
Siglo XXI November 200747.452.6
BGC November 200748.052.0
Prensa Libre November 200747.053.0
El Periódico November 200739.435.125.5
El Periódico October 200737.339.822.9
Siglo XXI October 200746.253.8
Prensa Libre October 200745.654.4
Prensa Latina September 200734.726.813.3
Siglo XXI September 200741.439.39.55
Prensa Libre September 200731.731.814.63.14.527.6
El Periódico August 200730.727.710.55.71.716.7
Prensa Libre August 20072217.57.672.423.1728.83
El Periódico July 20073323.18.95.518.5
Prensa Libre July 200721.3314.428.172.422.537.92
El Periódico June 20072813.25.86.733.4
Prensa Libre June 200720.7512.258.171.51
El Periódico May 200725.915.35.66.236
Prensa Libre May 200720.611.47.12.91.5
El Periódico April 200728.610.46.35.642.3
Prensa Libre April 200726.5109.62.751.25
El Periódico January 200734.615.90.21.429.8
Prensa Libre January 200721.2310.527.542.180.60

Results

President

Around 60% of the voting public participated in the 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. [4] [5]

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. [6]

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

CandidateRunning matePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Álvaro Colom Rafael Espada National Unity of Hope 926,23628.251,449,53352.81
Otto Pérez Molina Ricardo Castillo Sinibaldi Patriotic Party 771,81323.541,295,10847.19
Alejandro Giammattei Alfredo Vila Girón Grand National Alliance 565,01717.23
Eduardo Suger Erwin Lobos Ríos Social Action Centre 244,3737.45
Luis Rabbé Haroldo Quej Chen Guatemalan Republican Front 239,2047.30
Mario Estrada  [ es ]Mario Torres Marroquín National Change Union 103,6953.16
Rigoberta Menchú Luis Fernando Montenegro Encuentro por Guatemala 100,3653.06
Fritz García Gallont Enrique Godoy García Granados Unionist Party 95,2802.91
Óscar CastañedaRoger Valenzuela National Advancement Party 83,3692.54
Miguel Ángel Sandoval  [ es ]Walda Barrios Ruiz Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity 70,2082.14
Manuel Conde Orellana Juan Francisco Manrique Democratic Union 24,8930.76
Pablo MonsantoMariano Portillo Lemus New Nation Alliance 19,6400.60
Héctor RosalesCarlos Pérez Rodríguez Authentic Integral Development 18,3950.56
Vinicio Cerezo BlandónPablo Ramírez Rivas Guatemalan Christian Democracy 16,4610.50
Total3,278,949100.002,744,641100.00
Valid votes3,278,94990.682,744,64195.06
Invalid/blank votes336,9189.32142,5654.94
Total votes3,615,867100.002,887,206100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,990,02960.365,990,02948.20
Source: TSE, TSE

Congress

The National Unity of Hope (UNE) made huge gains in the election, gaining 20 seats. The Patriotic Party (PP), which ran independent of the Grand National Alliance (GANA), won 29 seat, while GANA won 37 seats.

2
4
52
1
5
29
5
37
3
14
6
PartyNationalDistrictTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
National Unity of Hope 720,28522.848705,30022.174452+20
Grand National Alliance 521,60016.546552,97617.383137–10
Patriotic Party 493,79115.666516,28716.232329New
Guatemalan Republican Front 306,1669.713304,2559.561114–29
Encuentro por Guatemala 194,8096.182135,9344.2724New
Unionist Party 192,2956.102210,7506.6346–1
Social Action Centre 154,0014.881148,3534.6645New
National Advancement Party 143,2684.541164,7435.1823–14
National Change Union 128,1094.061144,7474.5545New
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity 112,2493.561100,1793.15120
Authentic Integral Development 45,0821.43047,9521.5100–1
Democratic Union 44,3591.41047,4181.4911–1
New Nation Alternative 43,1481.37046,2481.4500–6
Front for Democracy 28,6040.91025,7840.8100New
Guatemalan Christian Democracy 25,4500.81021,1920.6700–1
Bienestar Nacional 8,9210.2800New
Total3,153,216100.00313,181,039100.001271580
Valid votes3,153,21687.453,181,03988.03
Invalid/blank votes452,50312.55432,38011.97
Total votes3,605,719100.003,613,419100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,990,02960.205,990,02960.32
Source: TSE, IFES

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References

  1. Transparency International e.V. "publications/newsletter/2008/January 2008/interview". Archived from the original on 25 March 2016.
  2. Guatemala Nobel Prize winner Menchu halts presidential campaign People's Daily, 27 August 2007
  3. Menchú NO ha cerrado campaña por falta de recursos
  4. Colom Far Ahead of Rivals in Guatemala Archived 6 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine Angus Reid Global Monitor, 13 February 2007
  5. Guatemala heads for run-off vote BBC News, 10 September 2007
  6. GANA Party Stays Neutral Prensa Latina, 13 September 2007