MINUTE TO MINUTE: Delays and congestion in polling stations, the most important of the Electoral Day of El Salvador

In a different scenario in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, El Salvador is holding municipal and legislative elections for the period 2021-2024 on 28 February.

More than 5.3 million citizens are registered in the electoral roll. The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) has enabled 1,595 polling stations in the country and 8,451 Voting Boards (JRV) for this event.

READ MORE: Older adults, the first to go to the polls this February 28th

In this space you can follow the most relevant incidents of the election day that began with some delays in some polling stations.

12:05 pm In Guaymango, Ahuachapán, before the polling stations were set up, some acts of violence arose in the early hours of the morning. One of them starred Osiris Luna, director general of Penitentiary Centers and Deputy Minister of Justice, who was instructed to enter the polling station by force along with other members of New Ideas and intervene in the installation. JRV without being accredited for it, according to a video posted by 106.9 FM Radio on its Twitter account.

Party militants forcibly enter polling station. Video taken from: @arpassv

12:00 h Despite the ban on taking children to the polling stations in front of COVID-19, it was observed that some citizens went to the polls in the company of minors.

11:50 h Supporters of New Ideas and the candidate for mayor of Santa Anna, Gustavo Acevedo, gave away shirts with the logo of the candidate for the commune to people attending a polling station at the school Rafael Alvarez Lalinde.

11:45 h. Members of a Vote Receiving Board (JRV) of the Zacamil kindergarten in Mexicans complained that there was not enough equipment for them. In most JRVs there was only one table.

11:35 h Miguel Pereira, who is seeking his re-election as mayor of Sant Miquel by the FMLN, cast his vote at the Fe i Alegria center.

11:30 h U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Brendan O’Brien toured the polling station at the Concha Widow School in Graó, where he reiterated that his government supports fair, transparent and peaceful. He argued: “The election where all votes count is vital. What we want to see is patience in the process. Sometimes the results take time.”

11:20 h Attorney General Raúl Melara reported the arrest of a suspect for electoral fraud in the Union department. As indicated, it was a person who voted in a polling station where he did not have to cast his vote.

11:00 h Salvadoran Joaquín López complained that after 15 minutes the ink on his fingers did not mark. He denounced the poor quality of the product.

10:50 h International observers report irregularities at the Oriental Republic School Center in Uruguay, in the Zacamil colony in Mexico. Delegates Adamaris Silva and Nancy Flors, from Mexico, noted that police officers and polling station staff did not prioritize the entry of older adults to vote and that they had received complaints about a political party that was distributing propaganda. .

10:50 h Deputy Margarita Escobar, who is seeking re-election for ARENA, voted at the Concha Vídua de Graó School Center, but when she voted, they broke the corner of one of the ballots, so she had to cancel. and they gave him another ballot.

10:40 h At the Romero Alberg School Center there are rows outside and inside the polling station. There were disagreements at some of the Vote Receiving Boards (JRVs) to open the polls.

10:30 h At the National Institute of Commerce (Inco), Salvador had delays in starting the election day and physical distancing was not respected.

10:20 h Former presidential candidate Carlos Calleja arrived at a polling station located on the Hippodrome Boulevard: “Voting is the best tool for democracy.”

10:15 h. Guaymango voters knock down school door for late opening.

10:10 h ARENA MP Norman Quijano cast his vote at the Sacred Heart College polling station.

10.00 in the morning Candidate for mayor of Sant Miquel for New Ideas Will Salgado and his brother aspiring to re-election to a council for WIN Numan vote in municipal and legislative elections.

09:55 This was the atmosphere in the polling station on the Hippodrome Boulevard in San Salvador, where voters waited two hours for it to be enabled.

The voting boards on the Racecourse Boulevard opened with great delay, at approximately 09:00.

9:45 h The voting center on the Hippodrome Boulevard in San Salvador opened to citizens two hours late.

9:30 p.m. Ernesto Sanabria, Press Secretary of the presidency of El Salvador, was reprimanded by the National Civil Police for violating the Electoral Code and trying to take a photograph of his ballot.

09 am Voters gathered at the Monsignor Romero Vocational Training Center, in Ciutat Arce, La Llibertat.

8:45 p.m. There are no swabs at the Juana López polling station in Ciutat Delgado, so despite the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens have had to access the old method of dipping their finger in the ink. indelible.

A voter dips his finger in the indelible ink in the face of the lack of swabs in the voting center of the Joan López School Center. Photo / Menly Cortez

8:30 p.m.. At least 20 people who were trained to form the JRVs at the Thomas Jefferson polling station in Sonsonate did not receive official credentials to settle.

7:30 p.m. International observers are at the various polling stations.

7:20 am Some citizens were still waiting for the opening of polling stations.

7:15 p.m. Older adults have been the first to go to the polls this February 28th.

7:00 in the morning Most polling stations open their doors to citizens eligible to cast their ballots, some did so with delays.