At Stake in this Election: 

• The Presidency of Guatemala 

This is the second-round election. Read the IFES Election Snapshot here. The first round was held on 25 June 2023. 

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: President Alejandro GIAMMATTEI (since 14 January 2020) 

• Head of Government: President Alejandro GIAMMATTEI (since 14 January 2020) 

• Assembly: unicameral Congress (Congreso de la República) with 160 seats 

Electoral System:  

• The President is directly elected by absolute majority vote in up to two rounds. The President serves a single 4-year term and is not eligible for reelection. 

• The President and Vice President are elected together, as a slate. 

• Within the Congress, 128 members are elected from multi-seat departmental constituencies and 32 additional members are elected in a single, nationwide constituency by closed party-list proportional representation vote. All 160 members are directly elected and serve 4-year terms. 

Last Election: 

In the first round of the 2023 presidential election, no candidate won an absolute majority of the vote. Sandra TORRES (UNE) and Bernardo ARÉVALO (Semilla) won the largest shares of the vote, with 15.87% and 11.78%, respectively. Voter turnout was 44.9%. 

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: 26 March 2023 

• Voter registration deadline: 25 March 2023 

Main Candidates in this Election: 

• Sandra TORRES Casanova 

• Party: Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) 

• Bernardo ARÉVALO 

• Party: Movimiento Semilla  

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 17,980,803 (2023 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 9,361,068 (2023) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 9,081,214 (2023 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Signed 8 June 1981, Ratified 12 August 1982 

• Gender Quota: No 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 31 out of 160 in the Congress (19.4%)  

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.627, Medium, Rank 135 (2021) 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 26.5 (2023) 

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified 7 April 2009 

• Projected population with a disability: 2,697,120 (2023 est.) 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Guatemala: Yes, country office  

• Election Access: Yes 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 2 judgments and 11 resources