Guatemala Voters Cast Ballots in Contentious Election

The workers were then forcibly taken off the bus, doused with gasoline and threatened with being lit on fire before the police intervened. The board said that the workers resigned after the attack, and that centers in San José del Golfo did not have enough volunteers to receive votes.

On Sunday, the police fired tear gas at a crowd in San José del Golfo after reports that people from other municipalities had been transferred in buses to vote there. By midday, voting in San José del Golfo had been suspended. More than 100 miles west in San Martín Zapotitlán, the police arrested 11 people in connection with irregularities including burning ballots, authorities said.

Other irregularities reported by election observers included isolated instances of buying votes in exchange for food and cash in parts of the country. The authorities received 208 complaints, largely in connection with threats and claims of coercion, and at least 31 people were arrested in different parts of Guatemala on allegations of violating electoral laws.

In the voting center in the basement of the central park of Guatemala City, Silvia Martínez, 68, said she was motivated by hopes that “Guatemala will improve and end corruption.”

While she declined to say which candidate she supported, Ms. Martínez said she hoped the winner would pay attention to the needs of migrants as the number of Guatemalans leaving the country climbed.