The figure of the Municipal Constituency Assistant (Auxiliar de CEM), whose usefulness and efficacy was patent in this electoral process, should be incorporated and regulated by the electoral legislation and regulation to ensure its perpetuation in future electoral processes.

The LEPP should prevent the possibility that candidates may act as political party agents in polling stations. This dual condition, especially at the municipal level, may be considered, by certain voters to be tantamount to intimidation.

The excesses that were perpetrated during the electoral pre-campaign period, have made it manifestly clear that sanctions for violations of the legally established campaign timeframes carried out by political organisations must be clearly detailed.

The adjudication of the electoral budget to the Municipal Electoral Boards (Juntas Electorales Municipales) should be grounded on objective and pre-established criteria such as demographic density, the number of municipalities in each department, or physical distances, and other geographic realities of these constituencies. There is a strong need to regulate the criteria for the distribution of the budget on behalf of the TSE, as well as evaluating the financial autonomy of the Central District and the Department of Guatemala.

In the name of greater transparency in the management of challenges and complaints, it would be convenient for the TSE to maintain an official register of complaints and challenges, available for public consultation, in the Tribunal’s Secretariat.

Were the current number of Municipal Electoral Constituencies (Circunscripciones Electorales Municipales -CEMs) to be increased, as would be appropriate, the process must be designed in a manner that takes into account the realities, needs and suggestions of the relevant local communities.

Despite the fact that during the 2007 electoral process, the TSE significantly improved the quantity and quality of information relayed to the electorate in indigenous languages, as compared to previous electoral processes, it is crucial that the TSE continue to expand on this in future election processes.

In line with internationally established standards for democratic elections, it would be convenient to revise the current limits on the amounts of time and space that may be used in the media for the purposes of electoral propaganda as thoroughly as possible. Although the inclusion, for the first time ever, of specific legislation on this matter has signified an enormous development in the Guatemalan electoral context, such limits are still too generous, and do not contribute to ensure a level playing field for those parties with smaller electoral support, and limited financial capacity. In this sense, reducing the restrictions that are currently applicable, together with the adoption of a system of legally assigned free electoral propaganda spaces in public radio, proportionate to the level of representation obtained by the different political parties contesting specific elections, may contribute to reduce the level of saturation of electoral propaganda in the media, and thereby balance the campaign options of the various parties.

The Electoral Act should be amended to provide more detailed provisions for voting, counting and collation procedures. These should include:
(i) a requirement for results to be publicly displayed at polling stations immediately after counting has been completed;
(ii) a requirement for copies of official result forms to be distributed to all involved stakeholders. including political parties, candidates and observers.
(iii) a requirement for detailed results broken down to polling station level to be publicly displayed at all superior levels of the election administration;
(iv) a requirement for INEC to swiftly publicly display, including on its website, detailed results of the elections, including all polling station results as well as collated information on the number of voters, votes cast, invalid votes etc.
(v) a requirement for results to be officially announced within a time limit of three days;
(vi) a requirement for voters, political parties and observers to be able to request a recount of ballots at polling station level when irregularities have been identified;
(vii) a requirement for INEC to be able to order a recount of ballots at polling station level if it is established that the law was violated; and
(viii) provision of clear grounds and authority to INEC to annul election results.

The Constitution should be amended to introduce a transparent, inclusive and accountable system for the nomination and appointment of INEC Commissioners and RECs which ensures the confidence of election stakeholders.

In accordance with the Electoral Act 2006, the federal government should swiftly establish a fund of sufficient size to ensure INEC’s financial independence. INEC’s financial accounts should be thoroughly audited by a private audit firm to deter and detect financial misconduct.

INEC should hold regular consultative meetings at national, state and local level with political parties and civil society organisations. This should include forums with the participation of security agencies.

INEC should use its Electoral Institute to establish a permanent pool of well trained and qualified electoral trainers to undertake continuous training of INEC staff.

INEC should ensure that there is a clear information flow from Headquarters to lower levels of the election administration.

Consideration should be given to amending the Constitution, or complementing the national legal framework, in order to ensure full adherence to the principles of political rights and freedoms related to elections contained in declarations, conventions, protocols and other instruments adopted by the UN, AU, ECOWAS and the Commonwealth.

INEC should ensure its staff are fully aware of the importance of electoral offences being prosecuted.

The requirement to submit a financial report on campaign expenditures should be enforced.

Infringement of laws and regulations concerning the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns should be subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions. Greater steps should be made by INEC and the relevant prosecuting authorities to initiate criminal proceedings for serious violations.

As a matter of urgency, INEC should start work to improve the current voter register, removing double registration, under age entries, entries without pictures and other shortcomings. This should be undertaken with a view to ensuring public and political confidence at all stages of the process.

After the public verification period, INEC should undertake all necessary corrections and again display the voter register at voter registration centre level. Permanent voter registration cards should be issued once the process has been concluded well in advance of the local government elections.

Political parties should be provided with copies of the voter register in a timely manner and, in order to ensure accountability and transparency, a full breakdown of figures should be published.

An accurate list of polling stations, including locations and the number of registered voters, should be made available to political parties and observers in a timely manner.

The Electoral Act should be amended to ensure that persons cannot be excluded from standing for election by unreasonable or discriminatory requirements such as level of education.

Indictment as a ground for disqualification should be reviewed in the light of potential for abuse and victimisation of political opponents. Appropriate checks and balances should be introduced to prevent such political victimisation.

The scope of immunity provisions that apply to the President and Vice President should be reviewed with the aim of removing blanket immunity.