GUATEMALA CITY, Sept. 7 (UPI) — Guatemala is headed for a presidential election run-off in October after early results show none of the 14 presidential candidates received 50 percent of the vote.
Comedic actor Jimmy Morales took an early lead with nearly 27 percent of the vote Monday, followed by businessman Manuel Baldizon’s 18.6 percent and former first lady’s Sandra Torres’s 17.9 percent.
But no one topped 50 percent of the vote. The top two finishers — Morales and Baldizon — will face off Oct. 25.
The regularly scheduled election comes just days after President Otto Perez Molina resigned and was jailed in connection to a bribery and corruption scandal. Vice President Alejandro Maldonado was sworn in until the winner takes office in January. He has asked for the entire Cabinet to resign amid the scandal.
Morales, 46, took a surprising lead in the polls, reflecting the Guatemalans’ disgust with politics as usual.
“Guatemala wants change and to not be governed by people with dark pasts,” Morales said.
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