At Stake in this Election:      

• The office of President of Guatemala

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: President Jimmy Ernesto MORALES*
• Head of Government: President Jimmy Ernesto MORALES*
• Assembly: Guatemala has a unicameral Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica) with 160 seats.

* Current President Jimmy Ernesto MORALES is ineligible for reelection.

Electoral System:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve one four-year term. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the votes in the first round, the top two candidates go to a second round.

Candidates in this Election:*

• Sandra TORRES
  • Party: National Unity of Hope / Unidad Nacional de la Esparanza (UNE)
  • Earned 25.54% of the votes in the previous election
• Alejandro GIAMMATTEI
  • Party: Let’s Go for a Different Guatemala / Vamos por una Guatemala Diferente (Vamos)
  • Earned 13.95% of the votes in the previous election

Other sources: background, candidates

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 17,577,842 (2019 est.)
• Registered Voters: 8,150,221 (as of July 2019) (source)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 8,922,811 (2019 est.)
• Is Guatemala a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (8 June 1981)
• Has Guatemala ratified CEDAW: Yes (12 August 1982)
• Gender Quota: No
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 21 (13%) of 158 seats in the Congress of the Republic
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 127 (2018)
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2019)

Disability Data:

• Is Guatemala a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
• Has Guatemala ratified CRPD: Yes (7 April 2009)
• Population with a disability: 2,237,850 (est.)