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More than a decade after the 1996 United Nations-sponsored peace accords ended 36 years of civil war, many Guatemalans continue to be marginalized from political life. Many citizens are disillusioned with the political process, lack confidence in public institutions and feel that their votes will not lead to significant improvements in their lives, severely diminishing participation. Studies show historically high rates of voter abstention and limited representation in democratic institutions among women and indigenous peoples. Although at least 20 percent of the Guatemalan population is indigenous women, only four of 158 deputies in Congress and one of 333 mayors are indigenous women. According to an NDI-supported study of barriers to indigenous electoral participation, 50 percent of indigenous women surveyed in key municipalities planned to abstain from voting in 2007. These statistics reflect how far removed indigenous women are from political life in Guatemala.
To help address this exclusion, Guatemalan election authorities carried out a massive decentralization of voting stations for the 2007 elections to enfranchise rural voters. Further decentralization is planned for the 2011 elections. This effort has provided political parties with opportunities and incentives to develop long-term outreach strategies that go beyond their previous focus on urban populations. Some are designing new organizational structures to reach women and indigenous voters and recruit new party members.
The official campaign for the September 2011 elections began in May with 28 political parties registering to compete. The majority signed an ethics pact, pledging to carry out campaigns based on democratic principles. While registration of women has been on the rise due to the decentralization of voting centers and efforts by government agencies, the number of youth on the voter registry declined since 2007. The National Civil Registry (RENAP) has been criticized for delays in issuing the new personal identification documents (DPIs), which are necessary to register to vote, and authorities maintain they are working to improve the process as well as coordination with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). The TSE faces the challenge of administering the elections with two permissible forms of identification, the old cédula and the new DPI.
Current Activities
Increasing Inclusive Political Participation
NDI works to increase the political participation of women and indigenous people in Guatemala by strengthening their leadership capacity and collaborating with government institutions and political parties to reform policies and strategies. Specifically, NDI has collaborated with parties to design and carry out recruitment plans focusing on women and indigenous people and to provide training opportunities for indigenous women.
In 2010, NDI organized working sessions on political strategy and effective communication for potential women candidates. NDI is currently replicating the course for a group of women leaders running for office in the 2011 elections and will publish the training materials. In 2009, NDI organized a leadership academy in the indigenous-majority department of Quetzaltenango for representatives from civil society organizations and political parties. Following the completion of the academy, NDI published guides to help academy participants and others organize trainings in their communities, parties and organizations. In addition, NDI has held training-of-trainer workshops and organized internships with government institutions for academy alumnae.
NDI also assists the women’s committee in Congress, which has successfully advocated for greater gender equity in the national budget and continues to advocate for a minimum requirement for the inclusion of women on all party candidate lists for national and local level elected offices. In addition, NDI is working with the indigenous committee in congress, along with civil society and party leaders, to strengthen their ability to effectively advocate for laws that are a priority for indigenous communities.
2011 General Elections
NDI recently supported an audit of the voter registry in key geographic areas to provide reliable information to the TSE and RENAP in their efforts to register citizens leading up to the election. NDI is also working to convene government and civil society representatives to address concerns with RENAP. For the upcoming elections, NDI is providing similar support to Guatemalan election observation groups as in 2007, focusing on areas such as election-related violence, campaign spending and indigenous and women’s participation. NDI is also assisting Acción Ciudadana (Citizen Action), a member of the Mirador Electoral (Election Watch) coalition, to organize a parallel vote tabulation exercise, or quick count, as an independent check on the official results released by electoral authorities.
- Read the statements released by Mirador Electoral following the second round elections on Nov. 6, 2011»
- Read the statements released by Mirador Electoral following the first round elections on Sept. 11, 2011»
Past Programs
National Observation 2007
Building on NDI’s 2003 election observation program in Guatemala, the Institute worked with Mirador Electoral, a coalition of then five Guatemalan civic groups, on a national monitoring effort. NDI provided support to Mirador to conduct a comprehensive pre-election and election-day observation effort, including an audit of the voter registry; monitoring of election authorities, political parties and the media; and a systematic qualitative and quantitative observation on election day, including a quick count. Mirador also worked with indigenous partner groups to track the inclusion of indigenous issues in the electoral process.
Using data collected by 3,500 observers during the first round and run-off, Mirador conducted quick counts that served as an independent check on election results with margins of error of less than 1 percent. In accordance with Guatemalan law, Mirador reported its results to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). During the first round and the run-off, the TSE president announced the Mirador results on national television, emphasizing the similarity between Mirador’s projections and the official count.
Partnering with the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), NDI supported a comprehensive study of barriers to indigenous political participation in Guatemala. FLACSO and NDI experts used survey research in four communities to investigate why indigenous citizens vote at a lower rate relative to their non-indigenous counterparts in Guatemala. The 2008 study found that lack of a proper identification card—rather than a lack of interest—was the main reason that Guatemalans across all ethnic groups did not vote.
National Observation 2003
In 2003, NDI supported the country’s first nationwide election monitoring effort by Mirador Electoral. NDI helped Mirador protect the integrity of the election process by: issuing pre-election statements and election-day releases that helped hold the TSE accountable to citizens; documenting incidents of political violence, intimidation and coercion and presenting the information to the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office; conducting a two-way audit of the voter registry; and organizing a national network of observers that provided systematic information on voting and counting process on election day. On election day, Mirador alerted the TSE to problems with indelible ink and long lines of citizens waiting to vote. The TSE responded by extending voting hours and issuing instructions to poll workers on the proper use of ink to prevent double voting. The observers also provided data for a quick count that verified the election returns. The TSE recognized Mirador’s quick count results and asked the group to publish the results to help bolster confidence in the elections.
Regional Political Leadership Program
In response to declining citizen confidence in political parties throughout Latin America, in 1999 NDI launched the regional Political Leadership Program and invited seven emerging leaders from Guatemala's major political parties at that time. Following an intensive two-week leadership training seminar, NDI provided one year of assistance to party reform and strengthening projects carried out by the Guatemalan participants.
Focus Groups
Following the 1996 Peace Accords, NDI joined Guatemalan partners in conducting focus groups to assess citizen perceptions of democracy and governance. Most Guatemalans interviewed emphasized the need to build institutions that encourage citizen participation in the political process beyond elections. NDI helped to disseminate this information to the political parties and civic committees to encourage them to respond to the needs of citizens at the local level.
Civic Education and Party Pollwatcher Training
Based on concerns about the potential for low voter participation in the 1995 elections, NDI teamed with Guatemalan groups to organize national voter education and political party training programs. These programs helped educate voters on their rights and responsibilities and provide political parties with the capacity to organize and train their party members to monitor the polls on election day.
International Observation
In 1990, NDI observed the elections and monitored the effects of political violence during the campaign. NDI's pre-election and election-day delegations encouraged Guatemala to safeguard its citizenry from human rights abuses and seek greater political participation by the country's indigenous people.
Contact Information
For more information about these programs, use our contact form or contact:
Washington, D.C.
Sara Barker, Senior Program Officer
sbarker@ndi.org
Kyle Fishman, Senior Program Assistant
kfishman@ndi.org
Guatemala City
Eduardo Núñez, Resident Director
enunez@ndi.org
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