GUATEMALA CITY: Guatemala will audit election returns after fraud allegations in the wake of last Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections, the country’s Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) announced Thursday.
TSE president Julio Solorzano told journalists in the Central American country that he had ordered an audit of certified returns from each ballot box to “clarify disagreements.”
Speaking at a news conference, Solorzano said the process would begin on Monday. The audit would include municipal and congressional elections held in tandem with the presidential vote.
Centre-left former first lady Sandra Torres leads in the presidential polls with 25.7 percent of the vote, ahead of conservative Alejandro Giammattei, with 14 percent.
Both had been expected to contest the August 11 run-off round before Thursday’s announcement.
The leftist Movement for the Liberation of Peoples — whose candidate Thelma Cabrera came fifth in the presidential race — denounced “evident electoral fraud.”
Solorzano said he had invited Cabrera and her party to the court to check her complaint.
The tumultuous campaign to succeed outgoing President Jimmy Morales saw two leading candidates barred from taking part in the election and the country’s top electoral crimes prosecutor flee the country after threats. – AFP
