[1] Alfonso Portillo won the presidential elections, whilst his Guatemalan Republican Front also won the Congressional elections.

Voter turnout was 53.8% on 7 November and 40.4% on 26 December.

[2] Media owner Remigio Ángel González gave more than $2.6 million and free airtime to Alfonso Portillo's campaign,[3] which led to some political analysts to claim that the free adverts helped Portillo win the election.

[4] After becoming president, Portillo appointed Gonzalez's brother-in-law Luis Rabbé to the post of Minister of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing, a post which included responsibility for overseeing the broadcast media.

[4] The presidential election also established a pattern for the next 16 years in which the runner-up of the previous contest then went on to win.