Ballots have been encrypted with a special code to keep them from being swapped, and the vehicles carrying them to the polls have been outfitted with satellite tracking systems to make sure no unscheduled stops are made along the way.
Still, many worry there will be mass protests if Rios Montt loses. Former paramilitary fighters already have blocked highways and kidnapped journalists to push the government to pay them for their help during the war.
The army has ordered soldiers to help keep the peace today.
"We are really afraid because of everything that has happened," said Amelia Villela, a 32-year-old school teacher attending a Colom rally on Thursday.
The main issues facing voters, who also will choose lawmakers, local officials and members of Central America's Parliament, are rampant crime, corruption, human rights abuses and a sluggish economy.
Human rights groups in Guatemala and Spain have accused Rios Montt's former government of carrying out massacres and killing civilians, including the 1981 arson of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala City in which 37 people died. Officials in both countries are investigating the charges.
Rios Montt makes no apologies for his past leadership. A presidential win would extend his immunity from prosecution, which will expire when his term as senator and president of Congress ends in January.
Yet the former evangelical minister often preaches love and understanding during his political rallies.
"We don't want confrontation, only peace and harmony," he said Friday.
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