Elections in El Salvador

The government of El Salvador is a presidential representative democratic republic.

El Salvador elects its head of state – the President of El Salvador – directly through a fixed-date general election whose winner is decided by absolute majority. If an absolute majority (50% + 1) is not achieved by any candidate in the first round of a presidential election, then a run-off election is conducted 30 days later between the two candidates who obtained the most votes in the first round. The presidential period is five years. Consecutive re-election is not permitted, though previously elected presidents may run for a second, non-consecutive term.

Salvadorans also elect a single-chamber, unicameral national legislature – the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador – composed of 60 members (deputies). They are elected by open-list proportional representation for three-year terms, with the possibility of immediate re-election. All 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly are elected on the basis of 14 multi-member constituencies (corresponding to El Salvador's 14 departments). They range from 3-16 seats each according to department population size.

Salvadorans also elect a single-chamber, unicameral national legislature – the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador – composed of 60 members (deputies). They are elected by open-list proportional representation for three-year terms, with the possibility of immediate re-election. All 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly are elected on the basis of 14 multi-member constituencies (corresponding to El Salvador's 14 departments). They range from 3-16 seats each according to department population size.

Latest election

Presidental

Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%
	Nayib Bukele	Félix Ulloa	Nuevas Ideas	2,701,725	84.65
	Manuel Flores (Salvadoran politician)	Werner Marroquín	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front	204,167	6.40
	Joel Sánchez	Hilcia Bonilla	Nationalist Republican Alliance	177,881	5.57
	Luis Parada (lawyer)	Celia Medrano	Nuestro Tiempo (El Salvador)	65,076	2.04
	Javier Renderos	Rafael Montalvo (politician)	Solidary Force	23,473	0.74
	Marina Murillo	Fausto Carranza	Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity	19,293	0.60
Total				3,191,615	100.00

Legislative Assembly

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Nuevas Ideas	2,200,332	70.56	54
	Nationalist Republican Alliance	227,357	7.29	2
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front	195,920	6.28	0
	National Coalition Party (El Salvador)	101,641	3.26	2
	Grand Alliance for National Unity	99,344	3.19	0
	Christian Democratic Party (El Salvador)	93,108	2.99	1
	Vamos (El Salvador)	91,675	2.94	1
	Solidary Force	51,021	1.64	0
	Nuestro Tiempo (El Salvador)	41,060	1.32	0
	Democratic Change (El Salvador)	12,165	0.39	0
	Christian Democratic Party (El Salvador)	4,913	0.16	0
Total		3,118,536	100.00	60

Municipal

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Nuevas Ideas	592,084	36.63	26
	Grand Alliance for National Unity	216,664	13.41	6
	Christian Democratic Party (El Salvador)	180,377	11.16	4
	Nationalist Republican Alliance	158,089	9.78	1
	National Coalition Party (El Salvador)	120,267	7.44	3
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front	125,733	7.78	0
	Solidary Force	70,455	4.36	1
	Democratic Change (El Salvador)	52,356	3.24	0
	Nuevas Ideas	24,169	1.50	2
	National Coalition Party (El Salvador)	22,446	1.39	1
	Nuevas Ideas	15,992	0.99	0
	Nuestro Tiempo (El Salvador)	15,202	0.94	0
	Vamos (El Salvador)	8,994	0.56	0
	Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity	7,440	0.46	0
	National Coalition Party (El Salvador)	5,948	0.37	0
Total		1,616,216	100.00	44

PARLACEN

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Nuevas Ideas	799,433	53.75	13
	Nationalist Republican Alliance	163,433	10.99	2
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front	122,926	8.26	2
	Grand Alliance for National Unity	116,549	7.84	2
	Christian Democratic Party (El Salvador)	114,370	7.69	1
	National Coalition Party (El Salvador)	91,474	6.15	0
	Solidary Force	48,856	3.28	0
	Democratic Change (El Salvador)	30,284	2.04	0
Total		1,487,325	100.00	20

Political culture

Further information: List of political parties in El Salvador

El Salvador has a multi-party system. Two political parties, the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) tended to dominate elections. ARENA candidates won four consecutive presidential elections until the election of Mauricio Funes of the FMLN in March 2009.

Geographically, the departments of the Central region, especially the capital and the coastal regions, known as departamentos rojos, or red departments, are relatively leftist, and have traditionally supported the FMLN. The departamentos azules, or blue departments in the east, western and highland regions are relatively conservative, have traditionally supported ARENA, but since the 2019 presidential election, has transitioned to supporting Nuevas Ideas.

In February 2021, El Salvador's legislative election was an important breakthrough. The new party, founded by President Nayib Bukele, Nuevas Ideas, won around two-thirds of votes with its allies (GANA-New Ideas). His party won supermajority 56 seats in the 84-seat parliament. Bukele became the country’s most powerful leader in three decades.

Schedule

Election

Position	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030
Type	None	Presidential (February) Legislative Assembly (February) Municipalities (March) PARLACEN (March)	None		Legislative Assembly Municipalities PARLACEN	None	Presidential	Legislative Assembly Municipalities PARLACEN
President and Vice President	None	President and Vice President	None				President and Vice President	None
Legislative Assembly	None	All 60 seats	None		All 60 seats	None		All 60 seats
Municipalities	None	All 44 seats	None		All 44 seats	None		All 44 seats
PARLACEN	None	All 20 seats	None		All 20 seats	None		All 20 seats

See also

• Corruption in El Salvador
• Freedom of speech in El Salvador
• Politics of El Salvador
• State of Exception in El Salvador