Morales, Torres Leading as Guatemala Heads to Runoff Vote

Guatemalan authorities announced preliminary results in the country’s elections Monday, announcing that Jimmy Morales, of National Convergence Front (FCN) party will move to a runoff vote in October, although his challenger remains unclear with a close margin between the second and third place candidates.

According to the Guatemalan Electoral Supreme Court, Morales placed first with 23.9 percent of the total vote, followed by Sandra Torres, of the left-leaning UNE party, with 19.68 percent. Liberal Renewed Democracy (LIDER) party candidate Manuel Baldizon finished a very close third, with 19.56 percent of the vote.

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Morales will face off with either Torres or Baldizon in the second round of voting, scheduled for Oct. 25.

RELATED: Guatemala Votes Amid Crisis

Millions of Guatemalans voted in historic but controversial elections, held days after former head of state Otto Perez Molina resigned over a huge corruption scandal.

Despite calls to postpone the general elections, millions of Guatemalans flocked to voting booths Sunday to elect a new president, vice president, 158 members of Congress, 20 legislators to the Central American Parliament and 338 municipal councils.

According to the Guatemalan Election officials, voter turnout was higher than expected, with more than 70 percent of registered voters casting their vote. However, over 900 complaints of election fraud have been submitted to the Guatemalan attorney general.

There have been over 900 complaints of election fraud submitted to the Guatemalan attorney general.

Under the country’s election laws, if no candidate obtains more than half of the votes in the elections or at least 40 percent of the vote and a 10 percent lead from the second place, the two top candidates will have to go to a second round.

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Morales’ campaign focused on the value of education and in denouncing the corruption of the country's political elite.

The election campaign has taken place amid deep political turmoil, including a wave of massive corruption scandals embroiling the government, fraud probes into high-ranking officials, and widespread calls for the resignation of President Otto Perez Molina.

Government corruption, which has dominated Guatemala's political scene in recent months, is thought to have also influenced Baldizon's 9 percent drop in the polls since April. Recent investigations led by the attorney general's office and the U.N. anti-impunity body in Guatemala, CICIG, have exposed several LIDER party officials for corruption offenses, including illicit enrichment, abuse of authority, and using political power for financial gain.

Indigenous Congressman Amilcar Pop, who in June made the first attempt to strip Perez Molina of his immunity, made the point that elections will not solve the crisis, as "there are many candidates involved in questionable acts."

Guatemala's popular anti-corruption movement has also called for reforms to laws governing elections and political parties, but legislators have resisted making any move on the changes.

Elections come after sustained mass mobilizations since mid-April demanded urgently-needed election and campaign finance reforms, among others, and has called continuously for President Perez Molina to resign along with other corrupt officials. Molina finally stepped down Sep. 3, after an arrest warrant was issued against him for masterminding a scheme to embezzle millions of dollars from a customs service as part of a fraud ring. He is provisionally in jail while facing court hearings.

Alejandro Maldonado, who took over the presidency from Molina on Sept. 3, will govern until Jan. 14, 2016, when the new president will be sworn in.