GUATEMALA CITY – Electoral workers slowly tallied ballots across Guatemala late Sunday, and early counts gave no indication of which two candidates from a huge field of presidential contenders would advance to a runoff.
While some isolated incidents interrupted the vote in some localities, voting appeared to have been orderly and peaceful in much of the country. Voters also cast ballots in hundreds of congressional and local races,
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Many Guatemalans had expressed disappointment with their presidential choices after three opposition candidates were excluded by authorities. A large number of null ballots were expected, and experts said it could depress turnout.
Early in the count, with about 7% tallied, null votes led all candidates in the presidential race.
With none of the 22 presidential candidates polling near the required 50% threshold for winning outright, a second round of voting on Aug. 20 between the top two finishers was almost certain.
At a polling place in central Guatemala City, a bell tolled and people cheered as voting closed with few still in line waiting their turn to cast ballots.
Alejandro Cameros, a 30-year-old teacher, complained that the only thing that has changed in Guatemala is the names of its presidents, while the same corrupt power structure remained.
“I voted for something different,” he said. “I have faith that it’s going to change, but if change is necessary it has to come from oneself for the government to also do its part."
Iliana Baños, a 34-year-old volunteer supporting poll watchers, said schooling was her top consideration in deciding how to cast her vote, because a country without education never makes anything of itself.
“It’s not fair in a country with so many needs to not have a thoughtful, critical vote and to act,” she said. “Because in this country we always complain, but we never act.”
There were some complications reported Sunday.
In San Jose del Golfo in central Guatemala, locals would not allow the voting center to open, saying people from outside the municipality had been bused in to vote. When electoral authorities tried to open a new voting location in the town they were blocked by locals, officials said.
National Police used tear gas in an attempt to clear the crowd of about 300, which set people running and triggered some rock throwing by locals. Soldiers were also sent into the highlands town.
Later Sunday, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said voting had been canceled in San Jose del Golfo due to the disturbances. The town’s citizens will be able to vote Aug. 20 during the expected second round of presidential voting, the tribunal said.
Authorities said there were multiple incidents of fire bombs tossed near voting centers in the capital late in the day.
In one incident, the interior of a small SUV was burned out as it sat parked on a central boulevard across from a median crowded with campaign signs for various candidates. Police at the scene said someone threw a fire bomb into the vehicle, which was not occupied, and there were no injuries.
The organization Electoral Lookout said the main election-related problems it was aware of across Guatemala concerned issues of alleged busing of voters from outside municipalities, purchased votes and some intimidation toward journalists.
In San Martin Zapotitlan, about 110 miles (177 kilometers) west of Guatemala City, locals also reacted angrily to reports that outsiders had been brought in to vote. Local outlet NotiReu showed images of what it said was a pile of burned ballots.
President Alejandro Giammattei, who could not seek re-election, had said Friday that the elections were “one more sign that we live in a stable democracy, something that is consolidated with periodic, free and participatory elections.”
Accusations from both inside and outside Guatemala that the vote was unfairly skewed to favor the political establishment rose after several outsider candidates were excluded by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the highest authority on the matter.
Among those barred from the ballot was Thelma Cabrera, a leftist and the only Indigenous woman candidate who allegedly didn’t meet requirements to run.
Carlos Pineda, a right-wing populist who was leading in opinion polls, was denied a spot due to alleged irregularities in his nomination. Roberto Arzú, a conservative law-and-order candidate, was barred for allegedly starting his campaign too early.
The two leading candidates favored to advance to a runoff vote were Sandra Torres, who divorced social democratic President Álvaro Colom in 2011 while he was in office, and diplomat Edmond Mulet. Zury Ríos Sosa, the daughter of the former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, also was considered a contender.
All three are on the more conservative side of the political spectrum and campaigned promising to install tough security measures like President Nayib Bukele in neighboring El Salvador and promoting conservative family values.
No leftist party has governed Guatemala in almost 70 years, since two leftist administrations from 1945 to 1954. The second of those was led by President Jacobo Arbenz, who was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup.
The vote comes amid widespread frustration with high crime, poverty and malnutrition — all factors in pushing tens of thousands of Guatemalans to migrate each year. There is also anger over official corruption and government moves against anti-corruption activists.
“What doesn’t allow for free and democratic elections in Guatemala is corruption and impunity,” a former Guatemalan attorney general, Thelma Aldana, who sought asylum in the United States under the grounds of political persecution, wrote in a Twitter post.
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AP photojournalist Moises Castillo in San Jose del Golfo contributed to this report.