1974 Guatemalan general election

General elections were held in Guatemala on 3 March 1974.[1] All candidates had to be members of the military, but with opposition candidate Efraín Ríos Montt leading the count in the presidential election, the government stopped releasing updates and several days later declared the military's preferred candidate Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García as the winner.[2] Opposition Congress members subsequently boycotted the confirmation vote,[3] and Ríos Montt was posted to Madrid by the army.[4]

1974 Guatemalan general election

3 March 1974

Nominee Kjell Laugerud Efraín Ríos Montt Party MLN DCG Running mate Mario Sandoval Alberto Fuentes Electoral vote 32 0 Popular vote 298,953 228,067 Percentage 44.61% 34.03%

President before election Carlos Arana Osorio MLN President-elect Kjell Laugerud García MLN

The Congressional elections were won by an alliance of the Institutional Democratic Party and the National Liberation Movement. The National Opposition Front was an alliance of Guatemalan Christian Democracy, the Social Democratic Party and the Authentic Revolutionary Party.

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Popular vote		Congress vote
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García	MLN–PID	298,953	44.61	32	100.00
	Efraín Ríos Montt	National Opposition Front	228,067	34.03	0	0.00
	Ernesto Paíz Novales	Revolutionary Party	143,111	21.36
Total			670,131	100.00	32	100.00
Valid votes			670,131	92.15	32	100.00
Invalid/blank votes			57,059	7.85	0	0.00
Total votes			727,190	100.00	32	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,566,724	46.41	55	58.18
Source: Nohlen (popular vote)

Congress

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Liberation Movement			16	–
	Institutional Democratic Party			14	–
	National Opposition Front			14	+14
	Revolutionary Party			10	–9
	Central Aranista Organisation			6	New
Total				60	+5
Source: Nohlen

References

1. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p323 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
2. Robert T. Buckman (2012) Latin America 2012 p192
3. Britannica Book of the Year 1975, p335
4. Gen Efraín Ríos Montt obituary The Guardian, 2 April 2018

Bibliography

• Guía del organismo legislativo República de Guatemala. Preparada por el Instituto Nacional de Administración para el Desarrollo, Dobierno de la República. 1968.
• Villagrán Kramer, Francisco. Biografía política de Guatemala: años de guerra y años de paz. FLACSO-Guatemala, 2004.
• Political handbook of the world 1974. New York, 1975.