- 👥 Table members: appointed by the Municipal Electoral Board (LEPP, Art. 181)
- 🎓 Requirements: exercising citizen rights, living in the municipality, literate, no party leadership post (Arts. 174 and 182)
- 🗳️ Fiscales: appointed by parties and civic committees (Art. 185)
On election day each voting table is a Junta Receptora de Votos (JRV, Voting Table): a temporary body that receives, counts and tallies the votes (LEPP, Art. 180). The law sets out two different roles, which this page covers under the name “polling station fiscal”:
- Voting Table members: three members (president, secretary and member) appointed by the Municipal Electoral Board (Art. 181).
- Party or civic-committee poll watchers (fiscales): appointed by political organisations for each table, to watch the vote and lodge observations and protests (Art. 185).
Summary: Voting Table members are appointed no later than 15 days before the election (Art. 181); the post is compulsory and unpaid, with any per diem the TSE sets, and employers must give paid leave for election day (Art. 184). Fiscales are appointed by each party or civic committee (Art. 185). Voting runs from 7:00 to 18:00, and people in line at closing may vote (Art. 236).
What is a Voting Table?
| Aspect | What the LEPP says |
|---|---|
| Nature | Temporary body responsible for receiving, counting and tallying votes (Art. 180) |
| Members | Three: president, secretary and member, appointed by the Municipal Electoral Board (Art. 181) |
| Substitutes | The Municipal Electoral Board appoints substitutes per municipality, who replace absent members on election day (Art. 181) |
| Deadline | Formed no later than fifteen days before the election (Art. 181) |
| Dissolution | When members sign the record and hand documents and materials to the Municipal Electoral Board (Art. 183) |
| Fiscales | Party and civic-committee fiscales may appear at any time to watch the vote (Art. 185) |
Requirements to sit on a Voting Table
Article 182 refers to the qualifications in Article 174:
| Requirement | Source |
|---|---|
| Be exercising your citizen rights | LEPP, Art. 174 a) |
| Live in the municipality | LEPP, Art. 174 b) |
| Be literate | LEPP, Art. 174 c) |
| Hold no leadership post in any political organisation | LEPP, Art. 174 d) |
Timeline set by law
| Step | Legal deadline |
|---|---|
| Departmental Electoral Boards formed | At least three months before the election (Art. 179) |
| Municipal Electoral Boards formed | At least two months before the election (Art. 179) |
| Voting Table members appointed | No later than fifteen days before the election (Art. 181) |
| Public information on where tables will be | No less than ninety days before the election (Art. 224) |
| 2027 general election | 27 June 2027, date in the TSE preliminary timetable (June 2026) |
The tse.org.gt home page showed no notice about forming the 2027 boards when checked on 30 September 2026. To find out how the boards are formed in your municipality, ask your TSE delegation or call 1580.
Election day — Voting Table duties (LEPP, Art. 186)
- Open and close the vote according to the law.
- Check electoral materials and documents.
- Respect and enforce the secrecy of the vote.
- Identify each voter and confirm their registration on the roll.
- Make sure voters put their ballots in the ballot boxes.
- Mark the right index finger of anyone who has voted with indelible ink and return their ID.
- Count and tally the votes in front of the fiscales present, and write up the records.
- Record the fiscales’ protests.
- Take the electoral sack to the Municipal Electoral Board when finished.
- The table president gives each fiscal present a certified copy of the result.
Hours (Art. 236): voting starts at 7:00; the polling centre closes at 18:00, but people standing in line at each table at that moment may vote.
Party poll watchers
Fiscales of political parties and civic committees appointed to each table may appear at any time to watch the vote, check it runs properly and lodge observations and protests (Art. 185). The count happens in their presence (Art. 186 g), and the LEPP says each electoral process is overseen by the electoral bodies and the participating political organisations (Art. 233). If you want to be a fiscal, your contact is the party or civic committee.
Pay, leave and immunities
| Item | What the LEPP says |
|---|---|
| Pay | Compulsory, unpaid post; per diem set by the TSE for election day, no receipts needed (Art. 184) |
| Work leave | Employers must give leave to serve on election day and pay salary and benefits for all the time in the post (Art. 184) |
| Immunities | The same as municipal mayors (Art. 184) |
Related procedures
- TSE Hub — all Supreme Electoral Tribunal procedures
- TSE Voter Registration — registering on the roll
- Electoral Roll Lookup — verify your registration
- Migrant Vote from USA — parties also accredit fiscales abroad
- Electoral Address Change — if you moved municipality
- Guatemala DPI — the ID you vote with
- RENAP Hub — DPI issuer
Official links
- TSE — Electoral and Political Parties Law and its Regulation (PDF)
- TSE — Institutional Portal
- TSE — Registration Lookup
- Phones published on tse.org.gt: +502 2236 5000 / 1580
- Email: unidaddeinformacion@tse.org.gt
Note (30 September 2026): as of 29 September 2026, the Portal Web TSE help page (ayudaportalweb.tse.org.gt) showed an undated notice: in response to a wave of cyber attacks on state institutions, the TSE temporarily suspended its electronic services.