Guatemala election: Votes counted in presidential poll

Latin America & CaribbeanImageAPImageVoters queued up from the early hours of Sunday to cast their ballots

Polls have closed in Guatemala, where a new president and congress are being elected amid a deep political crisis.

Former President Otto Perez Molina resigned earlier this week and was swiftly arrested over a customs fraud scheme.

Many Guatemalans had called for the polls to be postponed in the wake of the allegations.

Leading contenders include centre-right businessman Manuel Baldizon and comic actor Jimmy Morales.

If, as expected, no candidate wins 50% of the vote, there will be a second round of voting on 25 October.

"Guatemala wants change and to not be governed by people with dark pasts," said Mr Morales after voting near Guatemala City.

"Guatemala wants to live in peace. Guatemala wants elections," Mr Baldizon told journalists after casting his vote.

ImageAPImageManuel Baldizon had a comfortable lead in opinion polls until a month agoImageAPImage"Not corrupt, not a thief," was the slogan of Jimmy Morales

There had been calls for Guatemalans to wear black clothes of mourning as they cast their vote, amid scepticism that the poll could achieve political change.

"I cast a blank vote in protest as the candidates are all bad, they're all the same as those who robbed from us," 34-year-old Josefa Hernandez told Reuters news agency in a suburb of Guatemala City.

"If nobody votes for them, maybe they'll realise we're fed up," she added.

But voters queued from the early hours to cast their ballots.

Electoral authorities said 50% of voters had cast their ballots five hours after polls opened.

Some 7.5 million people were eligible to vote in the polls.

Prosecutors accuse Mr Perez Molina of masterminding a scheme in which businessmen paid bribes to evade customs charges. He denies involvement.