MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

At least 31 arrested in controversial Guatemalan elections

Sandra Torres is forecast to win Sunday's first round but eventually lose the runoff

At least 31 people were arrested Sunday during Guatemala's presidential elections, which have left no winning candidate and hence the need to hold a runoff in August, according to preliminary reports.

According to the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor's Office, some 208 complaints had been received concerning problems with political propaganda, transportation of people, and presumably vote buying. In the town of San José del Golfo (27 kilometers northwest of Guatemala City), the presence of voters from out of town to benefit a specific candidate and other irregularities were denounced.

Former First Lady Sandra Torres was expected to win the first round though falling short of the 50% plus one vote required for an outright victory. Torres is up against more than 20 other candidates, including Edmond Mulet, a career diplomat, and Zury Rios, daughter of the late dictator Efrain Rios Montt.

The race to succeed conservative President Alejandro Giammattei, who is limited by law to one term, has been overshadowed by a court ruling to block four candidates, including early front-runner, businessman Carlos Pineda, who called the decision “electoral fraud.”

Polls currently forecast that Torres, the ex-wife of late President Alvaro Colom (2008 to 2012) will likely lose a head-to-head runoff given her lack of popularity in Guatemala City. This is the 67-year-old politician's third run for president. She finished second in the previous two races.

Around 9.3 million eligible voters are choosing a new Congress, hundreds of mayors, and 20 members of the Central American Parliament, in addition to the president and vice president.