Presidential elections were held in Guatemala between 17 and 19 December 1944.[1] The October Revolution had overthrown Jorge Ubico, the American-backed dictator,[2] after which a junta composed of Francisco Javier Arana, Jacobo Árbenz and Jorge Toriello took power, and quickly announced presidential elections, as well as elections for a constitutional assembly.[3] The subsequent elections were broadly considered free and fair,[4] although only literate men were given the vote.[5] Unlike in similar historical situations, none of the junta members stood for election.[4] The front-runner was the philosophically conservative University professor Juan José Arévalo, of the National Renovation Party. His closest challenger was Adrián Recinos, whose campaign included a number of individuals identified with the Ubico regime.[4] The ballots were tallied on 19 December and Arévalo won in a landslide with 86.25% of the vote, receiving more than four times as many votes as the other candidates combined.[4] The Constitutional Assembly elections took place on 28–30 December, with the United Front of Arevalist Parties winning 50 of the 65 seats.
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