2007 Guatemalan general election

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.

2007 Guatemalan general election

Presidential election
9 September 2007 (first round)
4 November 2007 (second round)
 
Nominee Álvaro Colom Otto Pérez Molina
Party UNE PP
Running mate Rafael Espada Ricardo Castillo
Popular vote 1,449,533 1,295,108
Percentage 52.81% 47.19%


President before election

Óscar Berger
GANA

President-elect

Álvaro Colom
UNE

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

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

Opinion polls

PollsterDateColomPérezGiammatteiMenchúSugerUndecided
Siglo XXINovember 200747.452.6
BGCNovember 200748.052.0
Prensa LibreNovember 200747.053.0
El PeriódicoNovember 200739.435.125.5
El PeriódicoOctober 200737.339.822.9
Siglo XXIOctober 200746.253.8
Prensa LibreOctober 200745.654.4
Prensa LatinaSeptember 200734.726.813.3
Siglo XXISeptember 200741.439.39.55
Prensa LibreSeptember 200731.731.814.63.14.527.6
El PeriódicoAugust 200730.727.710.55.71.716.7
Prensa LibreAugust 20072217.57.672.423.1728.83
El PeriódicoJuly 20073323.18.95.518.5
Prensa LibreJuly 200721.3314.428.172.422.537.92
El PeriódicoJune 20072813.25.86.733.4
Prensa LibreJune 200720.7512.258.171.51
El PeriódicoMay 200725.915.35.66.236
Prensa LibreMay 200720.611.47.12.91.5
El PeriódicoApril 200728.610.46.35.642.3
Prensa LibreApril 200726.5109.62.751.25
El PeriódicoJanuary 200734.615.90.21.429.8
Prensa LibreJanuary 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 ColomRafael EspadaNational Unity of Hope926,23628.251,449,53352.81
Otto Pérez MolinaRicardo Castillo SinibaldiPatriotic Party771,81323.541,295,10847.19
Alejandro GiammatteiAlfredo Vila GirónGrand National Alliance565,01717.23
Eduardo SugerErwin Lobos RíosSocial Action Centre244,3737.45
Luis RabbéHaroldo Quej ChenGuatemalan Republican Front239,2047.30
Mario EstradaMario Torres MarroquínNational Change Union103,6953.16
Rigoberta MenchúLuis Fernando MontenegroEncuentro por Guatemala100,3653.06
Fritz García GallontEnrique Godoy García GranadosUnionist Party95,2802.91
Óscar CastañedaRoger ValenzuelaNational Advancement Party83,3692.54
Miguel Ángel SandovalWalda Barrios RuizGuatemalan National Revolutionary Unity70,2082.14
Manuel Conde OrellanaJuan Francisco ManriqueDemocratic Union24,8930.76
Pablo MonsantoMariano Portillo LemusNew Nation Alliance19,6400.60
Héctor RosalesCarlos Pérez RodríguezAuthentic Integral Development18,3950.56
Vinicio Cerezo BlandónPablo Ramírez RivasGuatemalan Christian Democracy16,4610.50
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.

PartyNationalDistrictTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
National Unity of Hope720,28522.848705,30022.174452+20
Grand National Alliance521,60016.546552,97617.383137–10
Patriotic Party493,79115.666516,28716.232329New
Guatemalan Republican Front306,1669.713304,2559.561114–29
Encuentro por Guatemala194,8096.182135,9344.2724New
Unionist Party192,2956.102210,7506.6346–1
Social Action Centre154,0014.881148,3534.6645New
National Advancement Party143,2684.541164,7435.1823–14
National Change Union128,1094.061144,7474.5545New
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity112,2493.561100,1793.15120
Authentic Integral Development45,0821.43047,9521.5100–1
Democratic Union44,3591.41047,4181.4911–1
New Nation Alternative43,1481.37046,2481.4500–6
Front for Democracy28,6040.91025,7840.8100New
Guatemalan Christian Democracy25,4500.81021,1920.6700–1
Bienestar Nacional8,9210.2800New
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

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
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