Morales laughs his ways to victory

Jimmy Morales is Guatemala's next president. With 94% of votes counted, he has 69% compared to Torres' 31%. pic.twitter.com/5DIYRV6Y09

— AS/COA Online (@ASCOA) October 26, 2015

With nearly all votes counted, Jimmy Morales of the National Convergence Front (FCN) has defeated Sandra Torres of the National Unity of Hope (UNE). Morales won an easy victory with approximately 70 percent of the national vote. He'll win by slightly more than what the polls had led us to believe but not unreasonably more.

Turnout was relatively low at ~53 percent. While no one expected turnout to reach the 70 percent that it did in the first round, it was also well below the 61 percent turnout managed for 2011's second round. Over 50 percent turnout in an election between two lackluster candidates in which a landslide was heavily predicted strikes me as positive. It's also still higher than what we saw in the first few elections following the return to civilian rule in the 1980s (?).