The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) has registered more than 5.3 million voters who are called to approach today the 8,451 polling stations of the 1,595 polling stations across the country.
El Salvador is preparing this day to elect its new deputies and mayors for the legislature from 2021 to 2024. Elections are taking place amid accusations from the political opposition that the government has used public resources to campaign in in favor of allied parties New Ideas and Great Alliance for National Unity (WIN).
Also on questions from the pro-government party that there would be alleged electoral fraud and in the midst of the COVID pandemic 19.
On this day, Salvadorans are holding elections in which they will elect 84 members of the Legislative Assembly, the 262 municipal councils and the 20 new representatives in the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), out of a total of 17,074 candidates.
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The Parlacen is a body of political and democratic representation of the Central American Integration System, (SICA) whose members represent Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.
After the last elections in 2018, El Salvador has 20 deputies in the Parlacen, of which 8 are from ARENA, 8 from the FMLN, 2 belong to the WIN party, 1 represents the PCN and 1 from the PDC.
According to data from the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) more than 5.3 million voters are summoned this Sunday to approach the 8,451 polling stations of the 1,595 polling stations across the country.
The electoral roll consists of 5, 389,017 of which 2, 877, 016 women (53.39%), and 2, 512, 001 men (46.61%).
Magistrate Noel Orellana confirmed to this media last November that there are more than 200,000 new voters for these elections, based on the number of elections in 2018 when deputies and municipal councils were elected, with a census be 5,186,042 people.
Irregularities prior to the elections
Over the past few weeks, a series of remarks have been made to the executive to use state resources to campaign and influence the voter despite the country’s laws prohibiting it.
On the first day of the election silence, sellers of the Dueñas Market in Santa Tecla confirmed that the government had given them a box of food next to a calendar with a photograph of the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele.
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At the same time as the delivery of the box with food, in his public profile the candidate of New Ideas for the Mayor of Santa Tecla, Henry Flowers, published a greeting for the sellers of the Dueñas Market where he said “the I send a big hug to our friends from the Dueñas Market “.
Although the Electoral Code prohibits public officials from inaugurating works of any kind one month before the election so as not to affect the voter’s intention at the last minute, President Nayib Bukele and his government officials exceeded this ban on handing over computers to public school students and “enabling” them to bypass Liberty in less than 15 days for today’s elections, lawyers have noted.
The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) during the last week of February criticized these actions and ordered the Government and its institutions “to refrain from publishing in the media contracts, inaugurations of works they have performed, perform or projectin fer “.
Likewise, the Collegiate body had suspended a spot for the presidency of the Republic and officials, noting that this was intended to affect the decision of the citizens.
TSE magistrate Guillermo Wellman repeatedly denounced the lack of respect for the laws of the country as well as the delivery of food, subliminal announcements, inaugurations among other actions by the executive.
“Irregular situations have been seen, there is no respect here and he knows that the first to break the order is the first magistrate of the country, Mr. President, the President has not wanted to accept the rules of the game, although these rules of the game they took him to the place where he is, “the magistrate criticized last Friday in a radio interview.
Speaker of the Assembly denounces Bukele
On the other hand, the President of the Legislative Assembly, Mario Ponce, publicly denounced this Saturday through his Twitter account that the Government has respected the law by violating the electoral silence and the current legal system.
“The executive continues to use state and institutional mechanisms — prevailing to ask for the vote,” Ponce noted.
In the same vein, the president urged the presidency to respect the law and not make use of the state apparatus.
“Salvadorans are in a moment of reflection within hours of deciding who the next rulers will be. It is important that the law is respected and that no use is made of the state apparatus to be calling for a vote,” he wrote. Ponce.