TSE Magistrates announced their decision Monday night
by CISPES
On the evening of Monday, March 24, El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) officially closed the books on the 2014 presidential elections, announcing its dismissal of the last of ARENA’s appeals and declaring the results firm and final.
Posted in News
Tagged ARENA, destabilization, El Salvador, elections, free and fair elections, supreme court, Supreme Electoral Tribunal
by CISPES
On Monday, March 17, President Mauricio Funes convened a meeting between members of his cabinet and the planning commission assembled by President-elect Salvador Sánchez Cerén to begin the transition between administrations. “We promise the president-elect all of our collaboration, energy and willingness to work in order to guarantee the most orderly transition possible,” said Funes, adding that despite ARENA’s ongoing campaign against the nation’s democratic institutions, “for the President of the Republic and his team, it’s enough for us that the maximum [electoral] authority has made its verdict known to the people…to begin working.”
Posted in News
Tagged Ciudad Mujer, FMLN, free and fair elections, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, transition
Joining Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) is now the 2nd U.S. congressperson to publish a statement commending El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for its “professionalism” and calling El Salvador’s elections “orderly, peaceful, free and fair.” McGovern also called on all political parties exercise “patience, calm and professionalism.” Rep. McGovern’s statements come as a result of a grassroots campaign to bolster international support for the TSE as it faces a right-wing assault from the losing ARENA party. Call your representative to ask that s/he join Reps. McGovern and Moran in making a public declaration in support of democracy in El Salvador.By CISPES
Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) issued this bilingual statement congratulating the Salvadoran people on their democratic election, applauding the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for its impartial and transparent management of the elections – especially the final vote count – and expressing his enthusiasm to continue good relations with El Salvador’s next president.
Read his full statement below:
by CISPES
Last night, shortly after midnight, El Salvador’s electoral authority, the Supreme
TSE’s final results (Image: Tribunal Supremo Electoral)
Electoral Tribunal (TSE), finished the final count of the original vote tally sheets from each of the country’s 10,445 voting tables. The process was delayed by the right-wing ARENA party, whose representatives abandoned the counting tables on multiple occasions throughout the evening. In the name of stability and the public’s right to the results, the TSE ultimately decided continue the count with or without ARENA’s presence. The final results came in with 1,495,815 votes for FMLN candidate Salvador Sánchez Cerén and 1,489,451 votes for ARENA candidate Norman Quijano, a difference of 6,364 votes, or 0.22%, in favor of the FMLN. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ARENA, FMLN, free and fair elections, observers, results, Transparency
Representatives of the CISPES and SHARE observer missions report to the press
On Tuesday, observers from CISPES and the SHARE Foundation held a press conference for the Salvadoran media to share their observations and evaluation of Sunday’s election, in which a record number of Salvadorans participated to elect their next president. Voter turnout was over 60% and, according the preliminary results, the winning candidate, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, received the highest number of votes of any candidate in the country’s history (over 1.4 million). Continue reading
by CISPES
(re-posted from NACLA website)
This Sunday, March 9th, El Salvador will elect its next president in a run-off election. The candidate for the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), Salvador Sánchez Cerén, has a strong lead over right wing candidate, Norman Quijano, from the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA); polls show the FMLN with up to a 16-point margin (CID-Gallup, February 19). This moment is something of a dreamscape for those who set down their weapons just over 22 years ago when the 1992 Peace Accords were signed. When the guerrillas came down from the mountains and the military stopped hunting its citizens and the U.S. government stopped signing checks to fund the military, those on the left wondered if the moment for real political change had passed. Continue reading
Sister Cities delegation of international elections observers (Photo: Vic Hinterlang)
by U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities
The weeks leading up to the first round of elections here were intense, full of last minute campaigning and fresh waves of fear spurred by the spiking crime and murder rate in the new year. To hear ARENA tell it, the crime wave was just another example of the FMLN and current president Mauricio Fune’s soft stance on crime, and a problem that won’t let up should there be another FMLN victory. Furthermore, they allege, the FMLN has actually been working with the gangs, having the gangs pressure people to vote for them. Continue reading
posted by CISPES
In San Martín, a large municipality on the outskirts of San Salvador, CISPES observers are currently monitoring the beginning of the voting process.
The Casa Comunal Voting Center of San Martín, San Salvador, opens at 7 AM
by CISPES
On Thursday, the San Francisco Chronicle published an op-ed by Hector Perla, Jr. entitled, “El Salvador vote should be decided by the people, not the U.S.” a response to various right-wing hit pieces that have been published in US news outlets like the Washington Post.
Professor Perla’s provides a thought-provoking response to the following question: Why do Salvadoran politics evoke such passionate responses from the U.S. conservative establishment?
EL SALVADOR 2014 ELECTIONS BLOG 