At stake in this election:      

• The 158 seats in the Congress of the Republic

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Otto PÉREZ Molina
• Head of Government: President Otto PÉREZ Molina
• Assembly: Guatemala has a unicameral Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica) with 158 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica) 158 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** Of the 158 members, 127 are departmental-level representatives selected through 22 departmental lists; 31 are national-level representatives selected in one, nationwide district. Votes are tabulated using the D'Hondt method.

Main parties in the electoral race[1]:

• Party: Renewed Democratic Liberty Party / Libertad Democratica Renovada (LIDER)
  • Leader: Roberto Ricardo VILLATE Villatoro
  • Seats won in last election: 14
• Party: Everyone Together for Guatemala / Todos (TODOS)
  • Leader: Felipe ALEJOS Lorenzana
  • Seats won in last election: N/A*
• Party: National Unity of Hope / Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE)
  • Leader: Sandra Julieta TORRES Casanova
  • Seats won in last election: 48**
• Party: Commitment, Renewal, and Order Party / Compromiso Renovacion y Orden (CREO)
  • Leader: Roberto GONZALEZ Diaz-Duran
  • Seats won in last election: 12
• Party: National Union for Change / Union del Cambio Nacional (UCN)
  • Leader: Ricardo Jose ORTIZ Altenbach
  • Seats won in last election: 14
• Party: Patriot Party/Partido Patriota***
  • Leader: Valentin Gramajo
  • Seats won in the last election: 57

*Todos did not contest the 2011 elections because it was not established as an independent political party until 2012. 

**39 of the 48 seats were won under alliance with the GANA party.  Only 9 seats were won strictly by UNE. 

Last election[2]:

• The last election for the Congress of the Republic was held on 11 September 2011.  There were 7,340,841 registered voters for the election.  The Patriot Party won 57 seats (of 158) or 26.62% of the vote, the National Unity for Hope Party won 48 seats (22.57% of the vote), the National Union of Change won 14 seats (9.50% of the vote), the Renewed Democratic Liberty Party won 14 seats (8.87% of the vote), the Encounter for Guatemala Party won 6 seats (7.87% of the vote), the National Advancement Party won 2 seats (3.12% of the vote), the Unionist Party won 1 seat (2.70% of the vote), the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity won 2 seats (3.27% of the vote). 

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 14,647,083 (2014 est.)[3]
• Registered Voters: 7,740,249[4]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 7,423,314 (2014 est.)[5]
• Is Guatemala a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (8 June 1981)
• Has Guatemala ratified CEDAW: Yes (12 August 1982)[6]
• Gender Quota: No[7]
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 21 (13%) of 158 seats in the Congress of the Republic[8]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 125[9]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium[10]

Disability Data:

• Is Guatemala a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
• Has Guatemala ratified CRPD: Yes (7 April 2009)[11]
• Population with a disability: 2,156,021[12]