"The phenomenon of clientelism and vote buying has spread throughout the country," members of the Electoral Viewpoint assured, as part of a first report on the Guatemalan general elections that are being held this June 25 in its first round.
According to Mirador Electoral, in collaboration with the Prensa Comunitaria media network, the elections are carried out without controls and without sanctions by the electoral authorities, which creates an "environment of impunity, which is taken advantage of by the political parties".
As of 1:00 p.m. on election day, Mirador Electoral reported at a press conference, there were records of incidents in at least 12 municipalities located in 8 departments of Guatemala, in addition to "dozens of complaints," many of them filed with the ministry and the Electoral Crimes Prosecutor's Office, an authority that up to that moment had reported 117 complaints.
The main complaints, said Mirador Lectoral, are related to voter hauling, a practice that is carried out more frequently in municipalities, where some candidates use "large amounts of money" to mobilize people from other towns.
The most serious case recorded by Mirador Electoral occurred in the municipality of San José del Golfo, in the department of Guatemala, where the vote has even been carried out due to the nonconformity of the inhabitants of this town to the massive hauling of people from other municipalities. , presumably paid for said purpose.
Community Press and RUDA, in collaboration with Peninsula 360 Press and Global Exchange, will continue to bring national and international coverage from Guatemala, as an effort of more than 15 community media outlets from Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, and Honduras.
The team has also been deployed to 13 departments and 4 municipalities. An effort of more than 100 people who on this election day carry the data that comes out of this election day in its first round.
This note was produced in collaboration with the Organization Global Exchange and Community Press.
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