The magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) are to be defined the possible continuity of 320 municipal assistants. However, observers of the previous electoral process suspect that the places could be related to officials in exchange for political favors, so they ask not to authorize new contracts.
At the last public meeting of the TSE with representatives of political parties, the magistrate Blanca Alfaro, acting president of the court, revealed that he faces new criminal investigation for these hiring.
According to their statements, the 320 places were not authorized by the Plenary because, at that time, it was disintegrated. But now, after a truce between Alfaro and the alternate magistrates, it will be the Plenary who knows the possible continuity of the auxiliary personnel.
The function of the auxiliary municipal delegate is to supply the absences of the holder, to avoid the closure of the regional TSE units.
The way in which hiring originated caused discomfort between union groups of the court, which filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labor, which was dismissed, according to Alfaro.
However, the case climbed to the Public Ministry (MP), which opened a new investigation. This caused discomfort in the acting president, who publicly suggested the closure of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI), which is in charge of the case, according to Alfaro.
Political favors
For electoral matters, the TSE has not justified the 320 hiring. On the contrary, they suspect that they represent an unjustified expense of public resources assigned to the electoral body.
“Unfortunately, the TSE fell into the same trend as many state institutions: becoming a clinical hiring bag or payments for favors”said Manfredo Marroquín, founder of Citizen Action.
The representative of the Supervisory Organization, who monitored the electoral process of 2023, questioned the moment of contracts, because he considers that in 2025 there is no workload that justifies strengthening the staff.
“There is no study that supports why hiring these people or what urgent tasks justify that they cannot be attended by existing delegates. In addition, we are not even in a year prior to elections,” he said.
Marroquín considers that the plenary should suspend hiring, because it is an unnecessary expense that could imply payment of favors to officials.
“It is an abuse of the use of resources. The court budget has been quintupled, and it is not justified, unless it is payment of favors to meet with deputies or officials with a view to a future re -election, or by influence peddling,” he said.
Priorities
Pedro Cruz, from First Guatemala, an organization that supervised electoral spending in 2023, agreed that there are other priority aspects.
“Honestly, I do not believe that hiring 320 people temporarily is necessary or urgent. There are more important aspects, such as the registration days, which should be prioritized,” he said.
In addition to how little useful these staff can be, Cruz emphasized that the TSE must take care of the public resources it manages.
In his opinion, the plenary should choose not to extend the contracts. “I think they should consider the immediate needs of the institution, and these rectives do not seem priority or justified,” he added.
Little transparency
Guillermo Fuentes, an analyst at the Air Organization, said that all the decisions of the plenary, even the administrative ones, should be public.
However, he stressed that The TSE stopped publishing the Plenary Agreements on its websitewhich affects transparency in decisions such as the hiring of personnel.
“On the website the agreements are not uploading, which were previously published. That shows lack of transparency. Other entities have no problem in publishing their resolutions,” he said.
For sources, it is urgent that the TSE strengthens its communication channels.
“The Supreme Electoral Court should publish all the agreements omitted this year and the futures. That allows to know the decisions of the plenary and how they were adopted,” he concluded.
Pending decision
The acting president of the TSE reported that in the plenary session last Tuesday the point on hiring was not known, which is still pending for a future session.
“We are going to continue with the issues that were pending. We have not yet reached the point related to the appointments,” Alfaro told the media after participating in an event about young and politics.
He added that the current plenary agenda focuses on administrative issues. “We have already addressed pending resolutions of some appeals and agreements related to resignations or changes in municipal corporations,” he said.
The plenary session continued on Wednesday, but a decision has not been made regarding the 320 hiring.
#Now | The president of the TSE, Blanca Alfaro attacks the FECI and says that the next MP Attorney must disappear since she has made “selective” persecutions. pic.twitter.com/kvekvzpjck
– Henry Montenegro (@hmontenegro_GTV) June 27, 2025