Guatemala City, October 21 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Guatemala will deploy more than 59,000 police and military officials as well as fiscal and international observers to protect the presidential elections Sunday.  Their role will be to guarantee the safety of voters and ensure voting is free of irregularities, according to local officials.

The second round of Guatemalan elections, which is expected to draw 7.5 million citizens to polling stations on October 25th, will be protected by 34,350 police officers, a spokesperson of the National Civil Police (PNC) told EFE news agency.

The police deployment is intended to protect 3,000 voting centers across 339 municipalities so as to assure Guatemalans can vote in complete safety, officials added.
      
Another 22,500 soldiers will be added for security purposes, Col. Hugo Rodriguez said.  Rodriguez emphasized brigades will specifically be stationed in 11 municipalities where elections will be repeated due to disturbances and riots that took place on September 6th general elections.

The Public Ministry also decided to deploy 2,400 auxiliary officers and prosecutors to “receive complaints” at the “main voting centers” in the Central American nation.
   
The Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) also began its work touring the country early October to examine the advancements made in the organizational efforts for the elections. On election day, the Mission will be made up of 70 experts and observers.

An additional 400 observers will be sent to 52 municipalities in the country by the Central American Institute of Studies for Democracy (DEMOSs), sources told EFE.