[11] In July 2021, Attorney General María Consuelo Porras dismissed the head of the special prosecutor's office against impunity, Juan Francisco Sandoval.

[14] Among those sanctioned by the United States are also the Secretary General of the Public Prosecution Service Ángel Pineda and the head of the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity and Porras' right-hand man, Rafael Curruchiche.

[15] At the end of July 2022, the police arrested journalist José Rubén Zamora, founder of the daily El Periódico, and searched the newspaper's headquarters, which had accused President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General Consuelo Porras of corruption.

[20] The International Federation for Human Rights, the World Organisation Against Torture and other NGOs warned in 2022 about the "strengthening of authoritarian rule" in Guatemala and declared that the country was "experiencing an alarming phenomenon of capture and control of public institutions by economic and political elites".

The ticket of Movement for the Liberation of Peoples was not registered due to "legal problems" of the vice-presidential candidate Jordán Rodas;[25] while Roberto Arzú's candidacy was revoked for allegedly carrying out "anticipated campaigning".

The first complaint he received was for having spoken out against the investigation of the nine journalists during the Zamora trial, while the other two were for allegedly engaging in "anticipated campaigning" for which reason Mulet's participation is uncertain.

[28] On 21 March 2023, the Electoral Tribunal announced that it had rejected the candidacy of the party Commitment, Renewal and Order due to "legal problems" of presidential candidate Francisco Arredondo.

[48] A substantial number of candidates ran a right-wing campaign, highlighting their attachment to religious values and the defence of private property, as well as their opposition to the legalisation of abortion.

Political party activists circulate among the ranks, taking down the names and addresses of those present as "primary beneficiaries" in the event of their candidate's victory.

[51] She accused her second round opponent, Arévalo, of being a puppet of both former attorney general Thelma Aldana and Colombian defense minister Iván Velásquez.

Political analyst Luis Mack noted that Torres's attacks against Arévalo were an appeal to religious conservatives and the far-right, both of which opposed anti-corruption efforts and foreign interference in Guatemala.

[51] Some political parties and their presidential candidates such as Amílcar Rivera (Victory),[52] Arévalo (Semilla)[52] and Manuel Villacorta (Will, Opportunity and Solidarity)[53] openly expressed the possibility of electoral fraud.

Adding to these denunciations were the excluded presidential candidates Thelma Cabrera (Movement for the Liberation of Peoples),[54] Roberto Arzú (Podemos)[53] and Pineda (Citizen Prosperity),[55] the last of whom saw a steep rise in opinion polls in April 2023, placing him within the top three finishers.

[56] Journalist Andrés Oppenheimer compared the electoral fraud accusations in Guatemala to Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 United States presidential election.

In an upset, Bernardo Arévalo finished in second place, qualifying for the runoff along with one of the favorites to win, former first lady and 2015 and 2019 presidential runner-up Sandra Torres.

[101][102] The official count of the general election by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal indicated that Sandra Torres from National Unity of Hope and Bernardo Arévalo from Semilla would contest the second round.

[109] On 12 July, the Public Prosecution Service announced that at their request judge Fredy Orellana had suspended Semilla's legal personality for alleged cases of false signatures to establish the party.

[111] Previously, member of Congress Samuel Pérez Álvarez of Semilla had announced the possibility of attempting a legal "maneuver" to dissolve the party and thus avoid Arévalo's participation in a second round.

[114] Although the Constitutional Court legally favored Semilla, the judge and the Public Prosecution Service continued to pressure the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to cancel the party's participation in the election.

During the raid at the party headquarters, Semilla's legal team, led by Juan Gerardo Guerrero and Ligia Hernández, submitted a petition for personal exhibition in order to clarify the situation of the workers who were inside the facilities.

[122] After the results were announced on the night of 20 August, hundreds of citizens congregated in the Obelisco in Guatemala City, as well as the central park of Quetzaltenango to celebrate Arévalo's victory.

[124] President Alejandro Giammattei congratulated Arévalo for his win in a post on X, saying he would "extend the invitation to start the ordered transition the day after the results are official.

[126] On 21 August, President Joe Biden of the United States congratulated Arévalo on a post made on X, remarking the "fair and peaceful" election that took place in the second round.

[128] Eladio Loizaga, head of the electoral observation mission deployed by the Organization of American States (OAS), said the voting went smoothly and that the election had "fulfilled all the demanding obligations".

[129] Eduardo Núñez,[130] the Guatemala resident senior director for the National Democratic Institute, expected two trends to continue and intensify in the coming days: the country's polarization and the judicialization of the electoral process.

In the other scenario, the Attorney General's Office succeeds in cancelling the legal status of Semilla, and it makes the argument that because the party was improperly registered, everything that occurred afterward, including Arévalo's nomination, is nullified and he cannot assume the presidency.

[143] Semilla had previously been targeted during the 2019 elections, with its presidential candidate, Thelma Aldana, considered the frontrunner, having her candidacy rejected for dubious reasons.

[149] Shortly after announcing Arévalo as winner, documents were published from the citizens registry suspending Semilla's registration once more, meaning that the members of Congress elected as part of the party would be forced to sit as independents.

[151] Following urging from the international community, Arévalo formally resumed the process on 4 October, despite Attorney General of Guatemala María Consuelo Porras' continued effort to deregister Semilla as a political party, including raids on the Supreme Electoral Tribune's offices.

[152] An OAS mediator was named to help manage the transition two days later,[153] with the organisation's observation mission stating that it appeared the actions by prosecutors were intended to keep Arévalo from taking office.