2003 Guatemalan general election

2003 Guatemalan presidential election
	9 November 2003 (first round); 28 December 2003 (second round)
	9 November 2003 (first round); 28 December 2003 (second round)
President before election; Alfonso Portillo; FRG	President-elect ; Óscar Berger; GANA

General elections were held in Guatemala on 9 November 2003, with a second round of the presidential election held on 28 December.^[1] Óscar Berger won the presidential election, representing the Grand National Alliance, a coalition of alliance of the Patriotic Party, the Reform Movement and the National Solidarity Party. The Alliance were also victorious in the Congressional elections, winning 47 of the 158 seats. Voter turnout was 57.9% in the Congressional elections, 58.9% in the first round of the presidential elections and 46.8% in the second.^[2]

Presidential election

The ruling Republican Front of Guatemala (FRG) nominated former military ruler Efraín Ríos Montt to succeed outgoing president Alfonso Portillo Cabrera. A constitutional ban on former coup leaders (Ríos Montt during 1982-83) led to strong conflict inside the country, including the besiegement of Guatemala for a day: 24 July 2003, known as jueves negro ("Black Thursday"). In the first round of voting, Ríos Montt came third behind the centrist mayor of Guatemala City, Óscar Berger, and the more left-wing candidate Álvaro Colom.

Presidential candidates

Grand National Alliance
Óscar Berger Perdomo	Eduardo Stein
for President	for Vice President

Mayor of Guatemala City (1991-1999) Candidate for President (1999)	Minister of Foreign Affairs (1996-2000)

National Unity of Hope
Álvaro Colom	Fernando Andrade Díaz
for President	for Vice President

General Secretary of National Unity of Hope (2003- ) Candidate for President (1999)	Candidate for President (1995)

Results

President


Candidate		Running mate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Óscar Berger	Eduardo Stein	Grand National Alliance	921,233	34.33	1,235,303	54.13
	Álvaro Colom	Fernando Andrade	National Unity of Hope	707,578	26.36	1,046,868	45.87
	Efraín Ríos Montt	Edín Barrientos	Guatemalan Republican Front	518,328	19.31
	Leonel Eliseo López Rodas	Alfonso Ramírez	National Advancement Party	224,127	8.35
	Frederich García-Galont Bischof	Héctor Sifuentes	Unionist Party	80,943	3.02
	Rodrigo Asturias	Pablo Ceto	Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity	69,297	2.58
	Eduardo Suger	Maritza Ruíz de Vielman	Authentic Integral Development	59,774	2.23
	Jacobo Arbenz Villanova	Mario Rolando Castro	Guatemalan Christian Democracy	42,186	1.57
	José Angel Lee Duarte	Américo Sifuentes Rivas	Social Participative Democracy	37,505	1.40
	Francisco Arredondo	Jorge Canales Nanne	National Union	11,979	0.45
	Manuel Eduardo Conde Orellana		Social and Political Movement National Change	10,829	0.40
Total				2,683,779	100.00	2,282,171	100.00

Valid votes				2,683,779	91.37	2,282,171	96.15
Invalid/blank votes				253,390	8.63	91,298	3.85
Total votes				2,937,169	100.00	2,373,469	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				5,073,282	57.89	5,073,282	46.78
Source: Nohlen

Congress

Party	PR		District		Total seats
Party	Votes	%	Votes	%	Total seats
Grand National Alliance	620,121	24.3	504,010	23.0	49
Guatemalan Republican Front	502,470	19.7	486,019	22.2	41
National Unity of Hope	457,308	17.9	362,859	16.5	30
National Advancement Party	278,393	10.9	270,549	12.3	17
Unionist Party	157,893	6.2	133,663	6.1	7
New Nation Alliance	123,853	4.9	59,891	2.7	6
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity	107,276	4.2	93,980	4.3	2
Guatemalan Christian Democracy	82,234	3.2	78,523	3.6	0
Authentic Integral Development	75,295	2.9	67,456	3.1	1
Democratic Union	55,793	2.2	55,321	2.5	2
Social Participative Democracy	28,425	1.1	29,109	1.3	0
Transparency	27,740	1.1	21,421	1.0	0
Social and Political Movement National Change	18,005	0.7	15,265	0.5	0
National Union	17,478	0.7	10,274	0.5	0
Other parties	–	–	4,204	0.2	0
Invalid/blank results	384,562	–	318,828	–	–
Total	2,936,936	100	2,511,372	100	158
Registered voters/turnout	5,073,282	57.9	5,073,282	49.5	–
Sources: Nohlen

References

^ Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p323 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
^ Nohlen, p324

[N1-1] Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p323 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6

[2] Nohlen, p324

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