More than 90,000 emigrants will be able to vote from the US

In total, 90,708 people are registered to vote and invited to participate from the United States in the election of the president of Guatemala in the general elections to be held on June 25, according to data released on Friday.

Guatemalans abroad will only have the paper with the presidential lists, unlike their compatriots in the territory, who will also vote for candidates for Congress and Municipal Councils.

When the figures of those registered at the national level and in the United States were published, plus the purification of the electoral roll by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the reactions have not been long in coming.

Carlos Lam, from the Association of Guatemalans without Borders, told the voice of america in Washington that the number is much lower than the expectations initially raised by civic organizations and committees in that country, which planned to strengthen participation.

“We are really very disappointed because they had a goal of around 300,000 Guatemalans who could register and they didn’t even reach 100,000,” Lam said.. “With this, we hope then at least the participation will be much more fluid than the previous ones and that Guatemalans in the US will assert our voice.”

Lam also pointed out that throughout the process there were “many obstacles” so that more Guatemalans could register; from difficulties in obtaining documents to the lack of effective campaigns to encourage citizens to register.

In addition, it has also pointed out the discouragement in migrant communities before the rejection of the TSE to accept one of the most voted presidential shortlists in the US in the last 2018 election, that of the indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera, who tried to participate in these elections taking the former Human Rights attorney, Jordán Rodas, as vice president.

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) in Washington has calculated that as of 2020, more than 1.3 million Guatemalans resided in the United States, more than half living undocumented. The data also point to a growth of this population of 44% more compared to the year 2013.

When presenting the consolidated data of 9,361,068 registered voters for the elections in which the successor to Alejandro Giammattei will be elected, the 160 deputies of the National Congress and 340 mayors and municipal councils in the country, the TSE described the process as “successful”. , offering data tables that indicate the departments with the most voters, which will also optimize the resources for the electoral fair.

US cities where you can vote

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal told the VOA that the 2023 election decree has included 15 cities in the United States where the more than 90,700 Guatemalans registered to cast the ballot will be able to vote.

The list of American cities – chosen due to the greater concentration of immigrants from that country – are: in California, the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, where voting centers will be installed; in Texas, where there will be campuses in Houston and Dallas; in Florida, the cities of Miami and Orlando, and in Georgia, Guatemalans residing in the metropolitan area of ​​Atlanta will be able to vote in the voting center of that city.

Two centers will be installed in North Carolina, one in the city of Raleigh and the other in Charlotte, and continuing north, Guatemalans residing in the Washington metropolitan area are assigned to vote at the center that will be installed in Arlington, in the state from Virginia.

The following centers that will be enabled, according to the TSE, are in Queens and Trenton, in New York and New Jersey respectively; in addition to the campuses in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Henderson, in Nevada.

If none of the presidential formulas exceeds 50% of the votes, Guatemalans will be summoned again to go to the polls on August 20, the same electoral precincts would be maintained in the US.

The White House meets with society

Later on Friday, the White House reported that Phil Gordon, Vice President Kamala Harris’ National Security Adviser, held a virtual meeting with leaders and members of Guatemalan civil society, in support of electoral observation in the Central American nation.

“Gordon reiterated the US’s support for free, fair, inclusive and peaceful elections and a transparent electoral process,” the call read out.

Vice President Harris was appointed by Biden to lead the efforts of the Democratic administration in order to put an end to irregular immigration, for which reason Guatemala, as one of the countries that generates the most migrants from the Northern Triangle, has been the focus of his work these years.

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