Despite the political context in Guatemala, Hispanics in California are preparing for the second round of general elections in Guatemala.
Guatemalans will elect their next president in the second round. Sandra Torres Casanova, from the National Unity of Hope ?UN? with 15.85 percent, and Bernardo Arévalo of the Seed Party with 11.77 percent of the votes registered in the first round, are the two official candidates who advance, among the 22 candidates who participated in the first contest for the presidency.
In context, after a recount of the minutes after the ruling issued by the Constitutional Court ?CC? in favor of nine political parties. The Supreme Court of Justice ?CSJ? of the Central American country, rejected another legal resource presented by political parties that seek the recount of the ballots. Finally, this Wednesday, the Superior Electoral Court ?TSE? officialized results and confirmed Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arévalo for the second round on August 20.
Guatemalan vote in the US for second round
According to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, in the first round elections 90,708 Guatemalans were registered in the US. Despite this, the results were not encouraging because only 1,443 votes were registered, which meant 1.5908 percent of the total. Given this, abstentionism was overwhelming, since 89 thousand 265 ?98.4092 percent? voters in the United States did not exercise their right.
The Electoral Board for Voting Abroad of the TSE enabled at least 17 Voting Centers in 17 cities. In four subscriptions: Southeast, Central, Northeast, and Western United States. For a total of 93 polling stations.
Four years ago, in 2019, for the general elections in Guatemala, 63,696 Guatemalans eligible to cast their vote registered, of which only 734 cast their votes, according to TSE data.
For compatriots residing in San Francisco, California, and neighboring areas, during the 2023 general elections, two voting centers were set up, one at City College, located at 1125 Valencia St, and another at the Consulate of Guatemala which is located at 659 A Merchant Street, and so far there have been no changes of venue by the TSE for voters to go to cast their ballots.
vote of hope
The outlook is not very comforting, but optimism remains, since there are Guatemalans who hope to be able to cast their vote and, with it, be able to be part of the electoral process to elect the next president of Guatemala.
"I don't see much change, but we will leave our grain of sand at the polls," said Efrain Rojas Marroquín, a Guatemalan resident of East Palo Alto.
Marroquín, affirmed that there is not much information on the electoral process for Hispanics in the area. "I hope to return to Guatemala, my family is there, so I see my vote as important," he stressed.
Recently, the president magistrate of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Elizabeth Palencia, called for the vote on August 20, since it is a right to participate.
Requirements for Guatemalans in the US to cast their vote
All those Guatemalans who wish to participate in the second round of the electoral contest must meet certain requirements. They must be duly registered by the registration commission of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which closed the process in March of this year, in addition to having the Personal Identification Document ?DPI? current.
Those interested can consult where they can cast their vote according to their registration through the website https://migrante.tse.org.gt/home of the Specialized Unit on voting abroad ?UEVE? of the TSE.
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