The elections scheduled for 11 March 2012 will determine the selection of Mayors and City Council Members for El Salvador’s 262 Municipalities as well as representation in the 84-seat Legislative Assembly for the next 3 years. Twenty years after the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords, El Salvador’s democratic development continues.  Some important reforms will be implemented in the 2012 elections, making election observation even more critical:

• Residential voting will be carried out in 9 of the country’s 14 departments (provinces): Cuscatlán, Cabañas, Usulután, San Miguel, La Paz, San Vicente, La Unión, Morazán, Chalatenango and in the major cities of San Salvador and Santa Tecla.  This is where approximately half of the Salvadoran population resides.  It means more voting centers closer to where the people live.  In urban areas, people will vote based on where they live rather than being assigned a voting center alphabetically according to their last name.  In rural areas, voting centers will be set up in towns and villages closer to where people live.

• A new system allowing for independent candidates and for voting for candidate names on the ballot instead of just the political party flag will be implemented.  How this contentious measure will be implemented is still being debated in the Legislative Assembly, but the Supreme Court of Justice handed down a decision resolving that the current system of marking only a party flag is unconstitutional. This will make ballot counting more complex than in previous years.

SalvAide’s Electoral Observers Delegation is an opportunity to learn more about El Salvador’s political, social, and economic reality as well as to contribute to strengthening the country’s historic struggle for greater democracy.  For a summary analysis of the current Salvadoran electoral landscape from our US-based friends at CISPES, please click here.

Click here for details (the application deadline has passed).

For any other information, call us at 613-233-6215 or send us an email.