Guatemalans in the US ask the Supreme Court of their country to guarantee the right to vote abroad

Representatives of Guatemalan migrant organizations in the United States asked the Guatemalan Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) on Thursday to guarantee the vote for next year’s general elections for all nationals of that country residing abroad.

The lawsuit filed with the Supreme Court, headed by the organization Voto Guatemalteco Abroad (VOGUARE), asks to order the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to “guarantee that right.”

Some 3 million Guatemalans residing abroad – mostly in the United States – aspire to vote in the general elections in Guatemala in 2023. However, official data indicates that only about 74,000 are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections.

Carlos Lam, president of Guatemalans without Borders, in Washington DC, and part of the broad platform of organized groups from his country in the North American nation, comments to the voice of america that the initiative presented this Wednesday in the CSJ, seeks to at least “break the silence” due to the suspicion that “the strategy of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) is to register as little as possible.”

However, the TSE claims to promote registration within Guatemalan territory. “Our registration brigades are located in different shopping centers. We invite you to go to the nearest post and carry out your process,” the electoral body advertises on its multiple platforms.

The request before the Supreme Court of Guatemala demands that “their right to vote from abroad in the 2023 elections” be guaranteed, when the president of the republic, congress and municipal governments will be elected.

“We think the action carried out by VOGUARE is very timely”, he comments to the VOA Lam, who considers that the slow process of registering his fellow citizens to participate in the Guatemalan elections is difficult for several reasons.

The representative of the plaintiff organization, Ben Monterroso, expressed on social networks that “the right to vote of Guatemalans who live in the United States is at risk and the elections could be a failure.”

This Thursday, the delegation of the organization that has made a tour to start dialogues with different institutions and political forces in the country said that they also seek to extend the registration process in the United States for another five months, as the point of greatest concentration of Guatemalan migrants.

“The idea is to make sure that the TSE answers our questions and acts to guarantee that our constitutional rights are respected,” he explained in statements to the media.

Carlos Lam explains that despite the rush of the calendar and “the obstacles” that could be anticipated from the institutional scaffolding because “in some way the Guatemalan justice system is co-opted and they only move the initiatives based on their convenience”, and that same CSJ points out “three years ago it should have been renewed,” he says.

The Guatemalan Foreign Ministry has estimated that the number of Guatemalans residing outside the country is around 3 million, but that only about 300,000 of these would meet the requirements mandated by the TSE to register and be able to vote.

Guatemala’s electoral calendar is already underway and the TSE will open the contest in January of next year, but the partisan machines are already revving up with assemblies and the election of shortlists for the vacancies both for local governments and for the national party and the candidates for The presidential chair also moves chips to replace Alejandro Giammattei, who will end his term on January 14, 2024, without the right to re-election and vetoed from the government house for life.

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