Political parties can now hold candidate proclamation assemblies for the 2027 general elections, but there are some that are unable to do so because they have few members.
The Department of Political Organizations of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) reminded political parties that they must reach the number of 28,083 members, otherwise they will not be able to proclaim candidates or participate in the elections.
Of the 25 current political groups, six do not reach the required number of members, according to the statistics of Political Organizations as of July 26.
The parties with the fewest members are the Green Party, with 28,031; Citizen Prosperity, which has 27,755; Victoria, reports 27 thousand 63; Power registers 26 thousand 434; URNG has 25 thousand 806; and Winaq, with 25,548.
“The consequence is that political parties that do not reach the minimum number of members cannot participate in the electoral process. This consequence leads to not nominating candidates for the presidency, and if they do not reach the minimum percentage of votes, a cancellation process would begin,” explained Judge Mario Alexander Velásquez.
Organizations have to reach that amount until September 10, being a crucial date for the future of organizations. “It is a fatal deadline for political parties,” the magistrate remarked.
As a support measure, the TSE will intensify its work day by extending hours, and if necessary it will also allow weekends for specialized personnel to receive reports of new affiliates.
Prevention and information
Judge Velásquez also directs the conflict prevention table, which aims to identify scenarios of possible electoral violence and avoid altercations.
The official explained that in the 2023 general elections they had 6 municipalities with reports of violence, and now they hope to further reduce these possible sources of conflict.
Something that they have detected is decisive for these scenarios to escalate to violence is misinformation, which is why they are also seeking to include a new mechanism that helps avoid disputes.
“The great innovation this year will be the creation of the Coalition Against Disinformation, we have already presented it to the universities, we will do it with the think tanks and the media to form a joint table,” said the magistrate.
With this, he added, the aim is for the media to have real and reliable information, to disseminate and prevent areas or communities from escalating to violence by ill-intentioned users on social networks.
“In 2023 we saw how social networks and information, not the media, dedicated themselves to misinformation and created many of the conflicts that existed,” he explained.
The strategy of the Coalition Against Disinformation will be integrated in the remainder of 2026, and its national launch is expected to be close to the call for the 2027 elections, which will be on January 22.