2024 Salvadoran general election

2024 Salvadoran general election

4 February 2024
Opinion polls
Registered	6,258,848
Presidential election
Candidate Nayib Bukele Joel Sánchez Manuel Flores Party NI ARENA FMLN Running mate Félix Ulloa Hilcia Bonilla Werner Marroquín   Candidate Luis Parada Javier Renderos Marina Murillo Party NT FS FPS Running mate Celia Medrano Rafael Montalvo Fausto Carranza
Incumbent President Nayib Bukele Nuevas Ideas
Legislative election
All 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly 31 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Current seats NI Xavier Zablah Bukele 56 ARENA Carlos García Saade 11 GANA Nelson Guardado 4 FMLN Óscar Ortiz 4 PCN Manuel Rodríguez 2 PDC Reinaldo Carballo 1 NT Andy Failer 1 V Cesia Rivas 1 Independents – 4 Incumbent President of the Legislative Assembly Ernesto Castro Nuevas Ideas

General elections will be held in El Salvador on 4 February 2024 to elect the president, vice president and all 60 deputies of the Legislative Assembly. This will be followed by a second set of elections on 3 March 2024 in which voters will elect all 44 mayors and municipal councils of the country's municipalities and all 20 of El Salvador's deputies to the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN). If necessary, a second presidential round will be held on the same date if no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote in the first round.

Thirteen political parties are allowed by the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) to participate in the election. Seven parties have presented presidential candidates; incumbent president Nayib Bukele is running for re-election with Nuevas Ideas, the political party he established in 2018, while the presidential candidates presented by the political opposition are Joel Sánchez of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), Manuel Flores of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), Luis Parada of Nuestro Tiempo, Javier Renderos of Solidarity Force, and Marina Murillo of the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity (FPS). Twelve parties will participate in the legislative and municipal elections, while ten will participate in the PARLACEN election. Parties had until 20 July 2023 to hold their primary elections, until 7 August to form presidential and legislative coalitions, and until 4 September to form municipal and PARLACEN coalitions. Opinion polling indicates significant leads for Nuevas Ideas in the presidential, legislative, and municipal elections, as well as high support for Bukele's re-election.

In September 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the incumbent president could run for immediate re-election, overturning a 2014 ruling which reaffirmed that re-election was prohibited and despite the country's constitution prohibiting immediate re-election. In September 2022, Bukele officially announced that he was running for re-election. In June 2023, Bukele officially registered as a presidential candidate for Nuevas Ideas, and the following month, Nuevas Ideas formally confirmed Bukele as its presidential candidate. Various lawyers, journalists, and opposition politicians have criticized Bukele's re-election bid as authoritarian and unconstitutional, while many Salvadorans—both inside and outside the country—remain supportive of his campaign. In October 2022, the Legislative Assembly passed a law which would allow Salvadoran expatriates to vote in the election. Several opposition politicians have criticized the decision, claiming that it would lead to electoral fraud. In December 2022, Bukele suggested reducing the number of municipalities. In June 2023, he officially presented his proposals to the Legislative Assembly to reduce the number of municipalities from 262 to 44 and the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly from 84 to 60; both proposals were approved by the Legislative Assembly that same month. The reductions were criticized by lawyers, economists, and opposition politicians as gerrymandering, undemocratic, and an attempt to consolidate the government's power.

Political background

Presidency of Nayib Bukele

Further information: 2019 Salvadoran presidential election, 2021 Salvadoran legislative election, and Nayib Bukele § Presidency

Nayib Bukele speaking on 1 June 2019, the day of his inauguration.

Nayib Bukele, the former mayor of San Salvador, won the 2019 Salvadoran presidential election with 53 percent of the vote. He ran under the banner of the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), making him the first president since José Napoleón Duarte (1984–1989) to not be a member of one of the country's two largest political parties: the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). Bukele's election is considered to be one of the most impactful events in Salvadoran political history, as many politicians and journalists have described it as breaking the country's two-party system.

Throughout his presidency, Bukele's government has been described as authoritarian and autocratic, resulting in what many have described as democratic backsliding. His COVID-19 lockdowns were criticized when more than 4,200 people were arrested by the National Civil Police. In February 2020, he was criticized for sending 40 soldiers into the Legislative Assembly to pressure lawmakers to approve a US$109 million loan to fund the Territorial Control Plan, a security program initiated by Bukele, in what critics described as an attempted coup d'état. In September 2020, El Faro accused Bukele of negotiating with criminal gangs in the country, notably Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street gang, to lower crime rates. Bukele and his government have denied those accusations. The United States government has labeled various Bukele government officials as being corrupt. In the 2021 legislative election, Nuevas Ideas, the political party Bukele established, won supermajorities in the Legislative Assembly, municipalities, and the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN). The 13th session of the Legislative Assembly assumed office on 1 May 2021, and Ernesto Castro was elected as the president of the Legislative Assembly. Following Castro's election, the 64 deputies representing Nuevas Ideas, GANA, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), and the National Coalition Party (PCN) voted to remove Attorney General Raúl Melara and five Supreme Court justices from the constitutional court. A new attorney general and new justices were later appointed by Bukele in what has since been described as a self-coup.

Following a spike in murders in March 2022, Bukele's government began a gang crackdown, referred to as a state of exception and a war against gangs, which has resulted in the reported arrests of over 74,000 alleged gang members as of 7 December 2023 and 144 to 152 deaths in custody as of 10 May 2023. The crackdown, which has been extended seventeen times by the Legislative Assembly, has been accused of engaging in arbitrary arrests, torture, and human rights abuses by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. On 3 January 2023, Minister of Defense René Merino Monroy announced that 496 homicides were registered in 2022, a decrease from 1,147 homicides in 2021; Merino attributed the decrease to the gang crackdown. Politicians from ARENA, the FMLN, and Nuestro Tiempo have described the crackdown as a political and electoral strategy to support the government and intimidate the opposition.

Despite controversies and negative press coverage, Bukele remains extremely popular with approval ratings consistently hovering between 80 and 90 percent. He is considered to be one of the most popular presidents in El Salvador's history, as well as one of the most popular incumbent Latin American heads of state.

Presidential re-election controversy

See also: Continuismo

On 3 September 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the president of El Salvador is eligible to run for re-election consecutively, discarding a 2014 ruling that required presidents to wait ten years before running for re-election. The 2021 court ruling made Bukele eligible to run for president in 2024. Despite protests from ARENA and the FMLN, the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) accepted the Supreme Court's ruling. The U.S. embassy to El Salvador was critical of the Supreme Court's ruling, stating that it "undermines democracy", and Chargé d'Affaires Jean Elizabeth Manes compared the path the Salvadoran government was taking to that of Venezuela under Hugo Chávez. On 1 March 2023, four of the five members of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Chamber confirmed that presidential re-election is allowed.

"Prácticamente todos los países desarrollados tienen reelección [...] las prohibiciones de reelección solo existen en el tercer mundo, coincidentalmente."

"Practically all developed countries have re-election [...] prohibitions on re-election only exist in the Third World, coincidentally."

Nayib Bukele, 15 September 2022

External video
Bukele's speech celebrating 201 years of independence, where he announced he is running for re-election in 2024 (at 34:00)

During a speech on the country's 201st anniversary of independence from Spain on 15 September 2022, Bukele officially announced his re-election campaign despite having previously voiced his opposition to immediate re-election both before and during his presidency. Bukele justified his re-election bid by arguing that most developed countries allow re-election; he read a list of 39 countries considered to be developed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and stated that all the countries on the list except for South Korea allowed re-election. He also claimed that restrictions on re-election only exists in Third World countries. According to Bukele, a developed country criticizing his announcement would be hypocritical. On 25 June 2023, Bukele officially registered his pre-candidacy for the presidency with Nuevas Ideas, and on 9 July, Nuevas Ideas officially elected Bukele as its presidential candidate.

If Bukele wins re-election, he would be the first person since General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (in office 1931–1934 and 1935–1944) to be re-elected and serve multiple terms as president. Additionally, he is the first president since Antonio Saca (served 2004–2009) to seek re-election. Bukele has been compared to Juan Orlando Hernández in Honduras and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, who used the Supreme Court and constitutional reforms, respectively, in their own countries to allow themselves to run for re-election. According to a poll conducted by the Francisco Gavidia University (UFG) in October 2022, 76 percent of respondents believed that if Bukele were re-elected in 2024, he would run for a third term in the 2029 presidential election. Bukele has implicitly denied that he would run for a third term, stating that he would "not seek [...] indefinite re-election" ("no busca [...] reelección indefinida"), adding that he was "only authorized to run for a second term" ("solo estoy autorizado para correr por un segundo período").

Criticism and opposition to re-election

Supporters of Bukele's re-election in front of the Legislative Assembly

Bukele's announcement that he was running for re-election was criticized by constitutional lawyers, who said his re-election would be unconstitutional and in violation of at least four articles of El Salvador's constitution. Following Bukele's registration as a presidential pre-candidate, Eduardo Escobar, the executive director of the Citizen Action non-governmental organization, stated that "everything is unconstitutional and they are only trying to give a face of legitimacy to everything with these articles" ("todo es inconstitucional y solo están tratando de darle una cara de legitimidad a todo con estos artilugios"). Manuel Flores, then a presidential pre-candidate of the FMLN, stated that "the law is the law [and] the law says that there is no re-election" ("la ley es la ley [y] la ley dice que no hay reelección"), adding that the constitution is "clear" ("clara") in prohibiting re-election. Citizen Resistance politician Rubén Zamora stated that the Legislative Assembly had to suspend Bukele's rights as a Salvadoran citizen in accordance with the constitution for registering as a pre-candidate for presidential re-election. Both Zamora and Claudia Ortiz, a deputy from Vamos, argued that immediate re-election is prohibited by articles 75, 88, 131, 152, 154, and 248 of the country's constitution.

Protesters holding a banner reading "No to Re-Election" on 1 May 2023.

A protester holding a sign with a quote attributed to Armando Bukele Kattán reading "Re-Election is Unconstitutional" on 15 September 2023.

On 1 May 2023, 36 left-wing organizations—including the FMLN and Nuestro Tiempo—held a protest march in commemoration of International Workers' Day against Bukele's re-election campaign and the gang crackdown. The protesters also demanded an increase of minimum wage from US$365 to US$500, the respect of workers' rights, and the release of innocent people captured during the gang crackdown. On 15 September, various organizations and civil movements held another protest march against re-election. The march traveled from the Rosales Hospital to the Gerardo Barrios Plaza. According to Francisco Omar Parada, a spokesman for the Resistance and Popular Rebellion Bloc, the march protested presidential re-election, the reductions of municipalities and seats on the Legislative Assembly, the "destruction" ("destrucción") of democratic institutions, and the "illegal control" ("control ilegal") exerted by the presidency, the judiciary, the office of the attorney general, and other state institutions. The presidential candidates for ARENA, the FMLN, and Nuestro Tiempo participated in the protest, as did various opposition deputies of the Legislative Assembly.

In October and November 2023, a total of ten formal requests were submitted to the TSE calling for the body to not register Bukele's presidential candidacy or void his candidacy after he initiated the registration process. These requests were filed by Nuestro Tiempo, ARENA, and various non-government organizations. On 9 November, the TSE reaffirmed that Bukele's candidacy was legal and dismissed all the petitions to void his candidacy.

Vice President Félix Ulloa, who supports Bukele's re-election bid, had suggested that Bukele should seek a leave of absence or express permission from the Supreme Court six months before the election. In April 2023, Ulloa stated that Bukele was seeking a "second mandate" ("segundo mandato") rather than re-election, adding that while immediate re-election was prohibited by the constitution, a second mandate was not. Some politicians, including Ulloa, have also suggested that Bukele should resign six months before the election to be able to legally pursue re-election, but according to constitutional lawyer Enrique Anaya, resignation would remove Bukele's legal immunity and allow him to be prosecuted for alleged corruption and human rights violations, while other constitutional lawyers state that his re-election campaign would be unconstitutional regardless. Ulloa and Nuevas Ideas deputy Christian Guevara have stated that both Bukele and Ulloa will resign before 1 December 2023, six months before their second inauguration should they win re-election, and that a successor will be designated as president. On 28 November, Bukele announced he would ask for a leave of absence from the Legislative Assembly on 1 December to relieve him of his duties as president in order to focus on his presidential campaign. Bukele was granted a leave of absence on 30 November and Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara, his private secretary, was named as presidential designee; she assumed office the following day and her appointment was criticized as unconstitutional by analysts and lawyers.

Allegations of fraud

On 18 January 2023, the Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to increase the criminal penalty for electoral fraud to 15–20 years in prison, higher than the previous penalty of 4–6 years. Additionally, if the individual was a gang member, the penalty was increased further to 20–30 years imprisonment. On 16 February, the Legislative Assembly passed a law making it illegal to impede the registration process for electoral candidates. According to the updated penal code, impeding a candidate's registration process is legally considered electoral fraud and would result in 6–20 years imprisonment. Lawyers and electoral experts alleged that the updated law would be used against those who opposed Bukele's re-election campaign; Eduardo Escobar and Ruth Eleonora López, the chief of Cristosal's anti-corruption committee, claimed that it was intimidation and a threat.

In addition to the Unique Identity Document (DUI; the primary identity document for Salvadorans), TSE magistrates Julio Olivo and Dora Martínez de Barahona have suggested using biometrics, specifically fingerprinting, to ensure election security. The Office for the Defense of Human Rights, a Salvadoran governmental agency, will be an observer for the 2024 elections. In March 2023, Votante, a voter's initiative created by five Salvadoran civil society organizations, petitioned the TSE to allow the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the European Union (EU) to monitor the elections. On 26 March, the TSE began the process of accepting international observers to monitor the election. The TSE expects that almost 5,800 national and international observers will be monitoring the election. In September 2023, the TSE officially offered the OAS and the EU to monitor the 2024 election process; the OAS accepted the TSE's offer while the EU stated that it would support the electoral process. In October 2023, the TSE announced that it had signed an agreement with the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education to audit the expatriate electronic voting process and another agreement with CGTS Corp. Inc. to audit both the expatriate electronic voting process and the expatriate electoral registry.

On 18 October 2022, the Legislative Assembly passed the Special Law for the Exercise of Suffrage Abroad, which allowed Salvadorans living outside of the country to vote electronically in the presidential and legislative elections, but not the municipal or PARLACEN elections. The TSE announced on 17 November 2022 that it would guarantee the right of Salvadorans abroad to vote in the 2024 election. According to the TSE, a total of 685,026 Salvadoran expatriates in 53 countries are eligible to vote in 2024 as of 19 August 2023. Some opposition figures claimed that the law would lead to voter fraud, while Castro rejected the notion that fraud would occur in the expatriate voting process.

As per the Law of Political Parties, the TSE did not monitor the political parties' primary elections for irregularities. In June 2023, some members of Nuevas Ideas claimed that there were irregularities present in the party's primary elections. They criticized that the party was presenting single-candidate primaries and promoting Bukele's family members for municipal races. On 1 July, Nuevas Ideas' National Electoral Commission announced that it would open an internal investigation process to guarantee that the party's statutes and regulations were followed and that those who attempted to manipulate the electoral process would be punished and turned over to the country's legal system. On 31 July, Nuevas Ideas suspended the legislative candidacy of Rebeca Santos after videos surfaced allegedly showing Santos' staffers soliciting party members for codes to vote in her favor. On 30 June 2023, Mayra Zetizo, the mayor of Sacacoyo and a member of GANA, announced her departure from GANA, claiming that there was a lack of transparency and low confidence in the party's primary election process. Guillermo Gallegos, the vice president of GANA and a deputy of the Legislative Assembly, responded to Zetizo's announcement by stating that there were no irregularities within the party.

According to an opinion poll conducted by UFG in May and June 2023, 62.8 percent of Salvadorans believed the elections would be "clean and transparent" ("limpias y transparentes"), 25 percent had doubts about the election's legitimacy, and 9.7 percent believed there would be fraud. A poll conducted by the Central American University in November 2023 found that 45.2 percent of Salvadorans believed that the elections would be "clean" ("limpias") while 31.5 percent believed there would be fraud.

Reduction of municipalities and legislative seats

Initial proposals, support, and criticism

Maps the country's municipalities before (top) and after (bottom) the reductions.

On 30 December 2022, Bukele tweeted that he believed the country's 262 municipalities should be reduced to only 50, claiming that it was "absurd that 21,000 km² are divided into 262 municipalities" ("absurdo que 21,000 kms² estén divididos en 262 alcaldías"). Various economists, lawyers, and politicians argued that the proposed reduction was an attempt to consolidate power through gerrymandering, would grant Nuevas Ideas an electoral advantage, and would lead to data manipulation to favor the government. Eugenio Chicas, a former magistrate of the TSE, denounced the idea, claiming that it was a part of Bukele's "political vision" ("visión política") to consolidate a military dictatorship.

Gallegos also expressed his support for Bukele's proposal, adding that he believed the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly should also be reduced. Ulloa supported reducing the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly and suggested decreasing it from 84 to 50 seats. In February 2023, Castro confirmed that Nuevas Ideas was considering reducing the number of deputies in the Legislative Assembly from 84 to 64 and the number of municipalities from 252 to 50.

John Wright, a deputy of Nuestro Tiempo, described the proposal to reduce the number of deputies as "extremely irresponsible" ("extremadamente irresponsable") for occurring within one year of the election. Claudia Ortiz criticized the announcement, stating the proposed reforms could help Nuevas Ideas form a one-party state. She also argued that the time to make electoral reforms had passed and that the changes would be in violation of the electoral code, referring to Article 291-A, which prohibits electoral reforms up to one year before an election. On 15 March 2023, the Legislative Assembly voted to repeal Article 291-A which ARENA deputy René Portillo Cuadra described as unconstitutional. and the Washington Office on Latin America, a U.S. non-governmental organization, described as "the latest backstep in the country".

In February 2023, GANA deputy Numan Salgado claimed that the country's population would support the reductions of deputies and municipalities. According to a poll conducted by the Francisco Gavidia University that month, around 48.5 percent of Salvadorans erroneously believed that El Salvador was already divided into only 50 municipalities. According to a poll conducted by Fundaungo in March 2023, 48.8 percent of Salvadorans supported reducing the number of municipalities, while 44.2 opposed it. Meanwhile, 80.2 percent supported reducing the number of legislative seats, while only 16.4 opposed it. A May 2023 poll conducted by UFG found that 66.4 percent supported the reduction of municipalities while 39.4 percent opposed it. A later poll conducted by Fundaungo in September 2023 found that 66.9 percent of Salvadorans supported the reduction of municipalities while 27.4 percent opposed it.

Approval by the Legislative Assembly

Bukele proposing the reduction of municipalities on 1 June 2023.

During a speech celebrating his fourth year in office on 1 June 2023, Bukele formally proposed legislation to reduce the number of municipalities from 262 to 44 and the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly from 84 to 60. Regarding the municipal reduction, he stated that the present municipalities would be transformed into districts, adding that municipal employees would keep their jobs and that communities would still be able to celebrate their local traditions and customs. Bukele argued that the reduction would also reduce the budgetary burden on the municipalities, make a "more equitable" ("más equitativa") distribution of taxation possible, and make electing and auditing mayors easier. Regarding the legislative reduction, he stated that the number of seats would return to the amount present before the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords in 1992. He criticized opposition politicians, stating "this Assembly once had 60 deputies, it did not occur to this Government, that those in the corner do not like this announcement because ARENA and the FMLN in that farce they signed added 24 more deputies and it was the only thing that they completed in those 'peace accords'" ("esta Asamblea tenía 60 diputados, no se nos ocurrió en este Gobierno, a esos de la esquina no les gusta este anuncio porque ARENA y el FMLN en esa farsa que firmaron añadieron a 24 diputados más y fue lo único que cumplieron en esos 'acuerdos de paz'").

Results of the reductions by department

Department	Legislative Assembly			Municipalities
	2021	2024	+/–	2021	2024	+/–
Ahuachapán	4	3	1	12	3	9
Cabañas	3	2	1	9	2	7
Chalatenango	3	2	1	33	3	30
Cuscatlán	3	2	1	16	2	14
La Libertad	10	7	3	22	6	16
La Paz	4	3	1	22	3	19
La Unión	3	2	1	18	2	16
Morazán	3	2	1	26	2	24
San Miguel	6	5	1	20	3	17
San Salvador	24	16	8	19	5	14
San Vicente	3	2	1	13	2	11
Santa Ana	7	5	2	13	4	9
Sonsonate	6	5	1	16	4	12
Usulután	5	4	1	23	3	20
Total	84	60	24	262	44	218

ARENA stated that the reductions are a "tactic to swing the electoral field in their [Nuevas Ideas'] favor" ("táctica para inclinar la cancha electoral a su favor") Claudia Ortiz stated that the reduction of municipalities was to benefit Nuevas Ideas' mayors which have done a "very bad job" ("trabajo muy malo") since their election in 2021. Marleni Funes, a deputy of the FMLN, claimed that Bukele wants to guarantee his grip on power and that every Salvadoran knows that fewer resources would arrive when the municipalities are reduced. Óscar Ortiz, the secretary-general of the FMLN, described the proposals as "institutional fraud" ("fraude institucional") for occurring during the lead up to the 2024 election.

On 7 June 2023, the Legislative Assembly approved the proposal to reduce the Legislative Assembly from 84 to 60 seats. Anabel Belloso, a deputy of the FMLN, claimed that the purpose of the legislative reduction was to "continue concentrating power", and other opposition figures argued that the reduction would diminish the political participation of smaller parties. Contrarily, GANA deputy Romeo Aüerbach denied that the reductions would affect the representation of smaller parties. Claudia Ortiz and ARENA deputy César Reyes claimed that the reduction were to assure and concentrate more power for Nuevas Ideas.

On 13 June 2023, the Legislative Assembly approved the proposal to reduce the number of municipalities from 262 to 44, with the proposal stipulating that the reductions would go into effect on 1 May 2024. López described the process of reducing municipalities as having been conducted in an "arbitrary and whimsical" ("arbitraria y antojadiza") manner, and argued that the reductions would distance the municipal governments from the people they govern. Portillo Cuadra described the reductions as "counterproductive" ("contraproducente") as it would assign mayors to oversee more people in each municipality. Wright claimed that the reductions would concentrate power to fewer people and that municipal representation was becoming "less democratic" ("menos democrático"). He claimed that the municipal reductions were electoral objectives rather than a desire to promote development or save money, questioning the lack of studies conducted to determine that the 262 municipalities should be reduced to 44. In response to the opposition's criticism, Castro claimed that the political opposition was becoming desperate because the country was returning to a "fair system" ("sistema justo").

Electoral system

Election procedure

General elections are scheduled to be held in El Salvador five years after the 2019 presidential election and three years after the 2021 legislative election. The president, vice president, 60 deputies of the Legislative Assembly, 44 mayors and municipal councils of the country's municipalities (second-level subdivisions), and 20 deputies of the Central American Parliament will be elected through a popular vote. The constitution of El Salvador mandates that the election will be "free, direct, equal and secret". On 11 August 2022, the Supreme Electoral Court announced that the elections for the presidency, vice presidency, and the Legislative Assembly will be held on Sunday, 4 February 2024, and that the elections for the 44 municipalities, the Central American Parliament, and a potential second presidential round will be held on Sunday, 3 March 2024. The TSE will ratify the results of the presidential election by 20 February if a second round is not necessary.

In the presidential election, a candidate needs an absolute majority (50% + 1) to be declared the winner of the election. If no candidate receives an absolute majority, a second round between the two candidates with the most valid votes will occur within thirty days of the first round. Deputies of the Legislative Assembly are elected by the D'Hondt method, while mayors and municipal council members and deputies of the Central American Parliament are elected by open list proportional representation. The 60 deputies of the Legislative Assembly will be elected in 14 constituencies for the country's 14 departments (first-level subdivisions), the 44 mayors and municipal councils will be elected in one constituency each, and the 20 deputies of the Central American Parliament will be elected from one nationwide constituency.

The 2024 presidential election ballot

Presidential and vice presidential candidates must be at least 30 years old, legislative candidates must be at least 25 years old, and municipal candidates must be at least 21 years old. All candidates must be Salvadoran citizens by birth. Per article 38 of the Law of Political Parties, at least 30 percent of a party's total candidates for the legislative, municipal, and PARLACEN elections must be women. In addition to the 60 deputies elected to the Legislative Assembly and the 20 deputies elected to PARLACEN (referred to as proprietary deputies), an additional 60 substitute deputies will be elected to the Legislative Assembly and 20 substitute deputies will be elected to PARLACEN. Each of the 44 municipalities will elect 1 mayor and a varying number of members to the municipal council. Each municipal council will consist of 1 trustee, 4 proprietary aldermen, and 4 substitute alderman, however, two municipalities will elect 8 proprietary alderman and two more will elect 10 proprietary alderman. In total, 624 people will be elected to hold public office in the 2024 elections, a decrease from 3,206 in 2021.

A total of 1,595 voting centers will be available across the country. Electronic voting for Salvadoran expatriates began at midnight on 6 January 2024; expatriates are able to vote at 81 voting centers in 60 of the country's embassies and consulates in 30 countries; Salvadorans in 22 countries will be unable to vote accounting for 42 eligible voters. The designs for all four ballots—presidential, legislative, municipal, and PARLACEN—were finalized on 6 December 2023.

Election financing

The TSE's 2024 election website banner

In December 2022, TSE magistrate Noel Orellana estimated that it would cost between US$25 and 30 million to finance the expatriate vote for the 2024 election, but later revised the estimate to US$120 million. In February 2023, the TSE announced that the expatriate vote would cost US$70.6 million and the national election would cost US$89 million, for a total cost of US$159.7 million for the 2024 election. In March 2023, the TSE reduced its estimate to US$129.3 million and formally requested that amount from the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly approved the TSE's request on 15 March 2023, making the 2024 election the most expensive election in Salvadoran history.

On 10 June 2023, the TSE announced that it came to an agreement with El Salvador Products and Services Exchange (BOLPROS) regarding procurement procedures for the election. On 20 June, the TSE announced that it had signed an agreement with the National Charity Lottery (LNB) regarding the verification of financial information of political parties. Through the agreement, the TSE will be able to contrast the financial information presented by the political parties, with the data handled by the LNB. On 29 June, the TSE announced that it had contracted Indra Solutions to implement electronic voting.

Political parties

Political parties must be registered with the TSE to be able to participate in elections. The following table shows the thirteen political parties which are eligible to participate in the 2024 election.

Party			Leader	2021 results
				Legislative	Municipal	PARLACEN
	PDC	Christian Democratic Party Partido Demócrata Cristiano	Reinaldo Carballo	1 / 84	3 / 262	0 / 20
	CD	Democratic Change Cambio Democrático	Javier Milián	0 / 84	0 / 262	0 / 20
	FMLN	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional	Óscar Ortiz	4 / 84	30 / 262	1 / 20
	GANA	Grand Alliance for National Unity Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional	Nelson Guardado	5 / 84	27 / 262	1 / 20
	V	Let's Go Vamos	Cesia Rivas	1 / 84	1 / 262	Did not run
	PCN	National Coalition Party Partido de Concertación Nacional	Manuel Rodríguez	2 / 84	14 / 262	1 / 20
	ARENA	Nationalist Republican Alliance Alianza Republicana Nacionalista	Carlos García Saade	14 / 84	35 / 262	3 / 20
	NI	New Ideas Nuevas Ideas	Xavier Zablah Bukele	56 / 84	152 / 262	14 / 20
	NT	Our Time Nuestro Tiempo	Andy Failer	1 / 84	0 / 262	Did not run
	DS	Salvadoran Democracy Democracia Salvadoreña	Adolfo Salume Artiñano	0 / 84	Did not run
	PAIS	Salvadoran Independent Party Partido Independiente Salvadoreño	Roy García	New party
	FPS	Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity Fraternidad Patriota Salvadoreña	Óscar Morales Lemus	Did not run
	FS	Solidarity Force Fuerza Solidaria	Rigoberto Soto	New party

Additionally, various civil movements attempted to register with the TSE to gain political party status and to run in the 2024 election. Such civil movements included Citizen Power, the Authentic Republican Movement, the Authentic Salvadoran Movement (MAS), We Shall Construct a New El Salvador, the Salvadoran Veteran Party, Somos, and i. Citizen Power announced its primary elections in March 2023, but the TSE disregarded the announcement as invalid as they were not registered to participate in the 2024 election. In mid-April 2023, the party turned in 50,000 signatures to the TSE to be registered as a political party. MAS abandoned its efforts to register in early-April 2023. In late-2022, Paul Monroy, the leader of i, announced the movement abandoned its efforts to register with the TSE.

Registered voters

Salvadoran citizens over the age of 18 living in El Salvador had until 7 August 2023 to register to vote, while those living outside of the country had until 5 November 2023 to register. Salvadorans in the country had until 3 April 2023 to change their address of residency on their Unique Identity Document, while those living abroad have until 5 November 2023. Guillermo Wellman, a magistrate of the TSE, has stated that individuals arrested during the country's gang crackdown would be ineligible to vote. In the legislative election, votes cast from outside of the country will be counted towards selecting deputies in the department of San Salvador.

The following table lists the number of registered voters for the 2024 election in all fourteen departments and outside of the country, as well as the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly and number of municipalities assigned to each department. The figures, as published by the TSE, are accurate as of 3 October 2023.

A labeled map of the fourteen departments of El Salvador.

Department	Voters	Seats in LA	Municipalities
Ahuachapán	298,543	3	3
Cabañas	142,598	2	2
Chalatenango	192,792	2	3
Cuscatlán	212,065	2	2
La Libertad	673,731	7	6
La Paz	283,077	3	3
La Unión	247,839	2	2
Morazán	168,247	2	2
San Miguel	434,346	5	3
San Salvador	1,478,509	16	5
San Vicente	151,062	2	2
Santa Ana	513,160	5	4
Sonsonate	406,264	5	4
Usulután	315,521	4	3
Expatriate vote	741,094		–
Total	6,258,848	60	44

Presidency

Registered candidates

Six political parties have had their 2024 presidential and vice presidential candidates officially registered by the TSE.

Party		Candidate		Running mate		Date nominated	Date registered	Ref(s).
	Nuevas Ideas Nuevas Ideas	Nayib Bukele	Nayib Bukele 43rd President of El Salvador (2019–present) Mayor of San Salvador (2015–2018) Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán (2012–2015)	Félix Ulloa	Félix Ulloa 43rd Vice President of El Salvador (2019–present)	9 July 2023	3 November 2023
	Nationalist Republican Alliance Nationalist Republican Alliance	Joel Sánchez	Joel Sánchez	Hilcia Bonilla	Hilcia Bonilla	16 July 2023	9 November 2023
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front	Manuel Flores	Manuel Flores Deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2012–2021) Mayor of Quezaltepeque (2003–2012)	Werner Marroquín	Werner Marroquín	16 July 2023	3 November 2023
	Nuestro Tiempo Nuestro Tiempo	Luis Parada	Luis Parada	Celia Medrano	Celia Medrano	15 July 2023	9 November 2023
	Solidarity Force Solidarity Force	Javier Renderos	Javier Renderos	Rafael Montalvo	Rafael Montalvo	24 July 2023	9 November 2023
	Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity	Marina Murillo	Marina Murillo	Fausto Carranza	Fausto Carranza	27 August 2023	9 November 2023

Rejected candidates

One party has had its presidential and vice presidential candidates rejected by the TSE.

Party		Candidate		Running mate		Date nominated	Date rejected	Ref.
	Salvadoran Independent Party Salvadoran Independent Party	José Cardoza	José Cardoza	Irma Sosa	Irma Sosa	28 August 2023	4 October 2023

Withdrawn candidates

• Gerardo Awad, 2019 ARENA presidential pre-candidate
• Jaime Zavaleta

Declined candidates

• Claudia Ortiz, deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2021–present)
• Mario Vega, senior pastor of Misión Cristiana Elim Internacional (1997–present)

Parliament

See also: List of members of the XIII Legislative Assembly of El Salvador and 2021 Salvadoran legislative election

Nuevas Ideas held a majority in the 13th Legislative Assembly; GANA, the PDC, and the PCN supported Nuevas Ideas' government. The opposition consisted of ARENA, the FMLN, Nuestro Tiempo, and Vamos. Within the Central American Parliament, the fifteen deputies from Nuevas Ideas and GANA belong to the Center-Democratic Integration Group, the four deputies from ARENA and the PCN belong to the Integrationist Democratic Unity, and the sole FMLN deputy belongs to the Parliamentary Group of the Left.

Since the 2021 legislative election, three deputies and twenty-two mayors from ARENA have left the party and become independents, as have eleven mayors from the FMLN, and one deputy and two mayors from GANA.

Retiring deputies

Sixteen incumbent deputies of the Legislative Assembly will not be running for re-election in 2024 due to them choosing to run for another office, being eliminated during their party's primary elections, being suspended by their party prior to the election, or them choosing to not seek public office in 2024.

Party		Retiring deputy	Department	Serving since	Ref.
	Nationalist Republican Alliance	Alberto Armando Romero Rodríguez	Cuscatlán	1 May 2006
		Rodrigo Ávila Avilés	La Libertad	1 May 2015
		Ana María Margarita Escobar López	San Salvador	1 May 2009
		René Alfredo Portillo Cuadra		1 May 2015
		José Javier Palomo Nieto	Santa Ana
	Nuevas Ideas	Rebeca Aracely Santos de González	La Libertad	1 May 2021
		Marcela Balbina Pineda Erazo	La Paz
		Edwin Antonio Serpas Ibarra	La Unión
		Suni Saraí Cedillos de Interiano	San Miguel
		Carlos Hermann Bruch Cornejo	San Salvador
		Dania Abigail González Rauda
		Iris Ivonne Hernández González
		Aronnette Rebeca Mencía Díaz
		José Asunción Urbina Alvarenga
		Jorge Alberto Castro Valle	Santa Ana
	Nuestro Tiempo	John Tennant Wright Sol	San Salvador

Electoral campaign

The TSE mandated that the parties had to announce their primary elections by 5 March 2023. The TSE initially mandated that the parties had hold their primary elections by 5 July 2023, but after the Legislative Assembly voted to reduce the number of municipalities in June 2023, the TSE delayed the deadline to hold primary elections until 20 July 2023. Political parties had until 7 August 2023 to register presidential and legislative coalitions. Parties had until 4 September 2023 to form municipal and PARLACEN coalitions. In total, there are 7 presidential candidates, 7 vice presidential candidates, 313 legislative candidates, 202 municipal candidates, and 80 PARLACEN candidates. According to Citizen Action, only 67,415—or 26.4 percent—of registered political party members voted in the country's primary elections, the lowest percentage since the organization has been keeping track of this statistic since the 2015 primary elections.

The TSE will regulate campaigning on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram, but it will not regulate campaigning outside of the country. The following table lists the electoral registration and campaigning periods as defined by the TSE.

Election type	Registration period	Campaign period	Election date
President and Vice President	7 September 2023 – 26 October 2023	3 October 2023 – 31 January 2024	4 February 2024
Legislative Assembly deputies		3 December 2023 – 31 January 2024
PARLACEN deputies	7 September 2023 – 23 November 2023	2 January 2023 – 28 February 2024	3 March 2024
Municipal mayors and councils	16 October 2023 – 23 November 2023	5 February 2024 – 28 February 2024

Prior to the beginning of the campaign period, some Nuevas Ideas politicians began to promote their electoral campaigns on Twitter and others purchased online advertising through Google Ads. López criticized the campaigns as illegal by arguing they violated article 172 of the electoral code. Legal experts and opposition politicians have also accused Nuevas Ideas of "promoting the figure of Nayib Bukele" ("promover la figura de Nayib Bukele") ahead of the 3 October 2023 campaigning period for presidential candidates, and have called on the TSE to take action against the supposed early campaigns being undertaken by Nuevas Ideas. In October 2023, the TSE stated that it was investigating 20 to 25 cases of early campaigns.

Nuevas Ideas

In February 2023, Castro stated that Nuevas Ideas aimed to win 70 seats in the Legislative Assembly and that the party did not intend to join a coalition with any other party. Following the reduction of municipalities and legislative seats, Castro stated that Nuevas Ideas expected to win all 44 municipalities and all 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Castro's revised projections were criticized by opposition leaders; Claudia Ortiz described the projections as "undemocratic" ("antidemocrática"), Wright claimed that Nuevas Ideas was "consolidating a dictatorship" ("consolidando es una dictadura"), and Belloso stated that the party was seeking to "concentrate power" ("concentrar el poder").

Nuevas Ideas deputies have held events in the U.S. to meet Salvadoran expatriates and support Bukele's re-election campaign. Eduardo Escobar claimed the events were illegal according to the constitution's rules about the promotion of candidates. As of 9 September 2023, Nuevas Ideas has held five such events in Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Uniondale, and Washington, D.C. When Bukele gave a speech to the Legislative Assembly to celebrate his fourth year in office on 1 June 2023, a group of Bukele's supporters were present inside the Legislative Assembly. They held signs with "#Nayib2024" written on them and banners supporting Bukele's re-election. The supporters also cheered for Bukele and the Nuevas Ideas deputies, booed deputies from the opposition, and yelled chants supportive of re-election.

On 25 June 2023, Bukele and Ulloa officially registered their pre-candidacies with Nuevas Ideas for president and vice president, respectively. In a tweet announcing their registrations, Nuevas Ideas stated that "New Ideas are invincible". The party originally scheduled its primary elections for 2 July, but after the reduction of the municipalities was approved, the party delayed its primaries until 9 July. According to Castro, the majority of Nuevas Ideas deputies are seeking re-election. On 9 July, Nuevas Ideas formalized Bukele and Ulloa's presidential and vice presidential campaigns. They ran unopposed and won 44,398 votes. During the primaries, 60 legislative candidates, 44 municipal candidates, and 20 PARLACEN candidates were also confirmed. Nuevas Ideas formed one municipal coalition with GANA for San Miguel Centro and two municipal coalitions with Democratic Change for Sonsonate Oeste and Santa Ana Norte.

Nuevas Ideas officially registered all 60 legislative candidates in 14 departments and all 20 PARLACEN candidates with the TSE on 20 October 2023, meanwhile, Bukele registered his candidacy with the TSE on 26 October, the last possible day to do so. After Bukele initiated the registration process, he addressed a crowd of supporters outside the TSE building who were chanting phrases such as "five more [years] ("cinco más [años]"), "re-election" ("reelección"), and "not one step back" ("ni un paso atrás"). The TSE officially registered Bukele and Ulloa's candidacies on 3 November 2023 with 4 of the 5 TSE magistrates voting in favor.

Bukele has called on his supporters to win a three-fourths majority for Nuevas Ideas in the Legislative Assembly in order to allow him to maintain the gang crackdown during his second term. Bukele has stated that he is willing to work with the international community as long as they respect El Salvador as a partner rather than as subservient, adding that El Salvador can "change" ("cambiar").

Nationalist Republican Alliance

In December 2022, Carlos García Saade, the president of ARENA, stated that ARENA sought to attain the "maximum number" ("la máxima candidad") of deputies and mayors, adding in May 2023 that the party sought to win more than 25 seats in the Legislative Assembly and more than 125 municipalities. After the reduction of municipalities and legislative seats, García Saade stated that the party sought to win at least 25 deputies and the Legislative Assembly and 30 municipalities.

On 26 October 2022, García Saade announced that the party would not join a coalition with the FMLN to defeat Bukele in the 2024 election. He stated that joining forces with the FMLN would "deteriorate both parties" ("deteriorar a ambos partidos"), and that he wanted ARENA to be the alternative for Salvadorans who oppose Bukele. Although he ruled out a coalition with the FMLN, he was still open to forming a coalition with other parties. At an event inaugurating the party's elected leadership on 26 March 2023, García Saade stated that the party was seeking to form coalitions and that it was looking for someone to lead the country's opposition as an "alternative for El Salvador" ("alternativa a El Salvador"). On 22 May, the El Faro digital newspaper alleged that ARENA was in negotiations with the FMLN, Vamos, and Nuestro Tiempo to form a political coalition for the presidential election to oppose Bukele. ARENA leaders acknowledged that the party was involved in negotiations but denied that the party was forming a coalition, and García Saade confirmed that ARENA had decided to not form any coalition.

On 9 July 2023, ARENA officially announced that it had selected Joel Sánchez, a Salvadoran businessman living in the U.S., and Hilcia Bonilla, a businesswoman living in the U.S., as its presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively. Sánchez's candidacy was proposed by the Citizen Resistance civil movement on 15 June 2023, although his initial running mate was Hardy García, the wife of Salvadoran Independent Party (PAIS) leader Roy García; she withdrew her candidacy because she had received "threats" ("amenazas"). When Sánchez's candidacy was initially proposed, Miguel Fortín Magaña, the leader of Citizen Resistance, hoped that a political party would accept the movement's proposal and allow Sánchez to run under another party's banner.

ARENA's primary elections were originally scheduled to occur on 18 June 2023, but were later moved to 2 July then again to 9 July, and finally to 16 July. The registration period for primary candidates ended on 15 May; García Saade stated that the names of presidential pre-candidates would not be disclosed for their safety, claiming that they were threatened by persons in government and by governmental institutions. On 16 July, ARENA elected Sánchez and Bonilla as its presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively. The party also elected 42 municipal candidates and 60 deputy candidates to the Legislative Assembly. According to Citizen Action, ARENA stated that it would not disclose its entire list of candidates due to alleged threats made against its candidates for participating in the elections.

On 25 July 2023, Sánchez stated that he would be willing to renounce his presidential candidacy if it was "the decision of our country and our population" ("deseo de nuestro país y de nuestra población") in order for find a more "suitable" ("idóneo") candidate. Following the publication of a UFG opinion poll in late-August 2023 which listed Sánchez as having 4.3 percent support, Julia Evelyn Martínez, a former professor at the Central American University, stated that Sánchez was considering withdrawing his candidacy due to his low polling figures. In September 2023, García Saade stated that he believed that Sánchez will be able to win the presidency in the second round. ARENA began the process of registering Sánchez's and Bonilla's candidacies with the TSE on 9 October 2023. By 26 October, party also began to register all of its 60 legislative candidates in all 14 departments. On 23 November, ARENA began to register all of its 20 PARLACEN candidates.

Sánchez has stated that the state of exception "has to be stopped" ("tiene que ser cesado"), elaborating that it "opens the opportunity to carry out abuses, corruption, [and] influence peddling" ("abre la oportunidad para llevar a cabo abusos, corrupción, tráfico de influencias"). Sánchez promised to review economic, taxation, educational, and agricultural policies to determine which ones are succeeding and which are failing. He described the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender as "the worst decision [Bukele's] government could have made" ("la peor decisión que este gobierno pueda haber hecho"), stating that it resulted in the International Monetary Fund refusing to support El Salvador and the government losing millions of dollars. Sánchez and Bonilla have stated that they would promote investment by "establishing our judicial system which works" ("establecer nuestro sistema jurídico que funcione"), and Sánchez claimed that he was already in talks with potential unspecified investors. Sánchez supports restoring diplomatic relations with Taiwan as he believes that Taiwan was a "better ally" ("mejor aliado") than China, citing better exchange student programs and trade deals with the country before relations were severed in 2018. He opposes the reduction of municipalities, arguing that it would result in parts of the country being neglected by mayors. In October 2023, Sánchez announced that he would upload videos to TikTok which would make Salvadoran youths want to dance in support of his campaign.

Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front

Following the conclusion of the FMLN's 42nd Ordinary National Convention on 11 December 2022, Óscar Ortiz, the secretary-general of the FMLN, announced that the party would not join any coalition in the 2024 elections with Nuevas Ideas, or ARENA, or GANA, but the party would be open to forming coalitions with other parties. On 22 May 2023, El Faro alleged that the FMLN was in negotiations with ARENA, Vamos, and Nuestro Tiempo to form a political coalition for the presidential election to oppose Bukele. FMLN leaders acknowledged that the party was involved in negotiations but denied that the party was forming a coalition, and Óscar Ortiz reiterated that the party would not form a coalition with ARENA, GANA, or Nuevas Ideas. Jaime Guevara claimed that all the parties, except for the FMLN, were seeking to unify under a single presidential candidate. In July 2023, Ángel Monge, a member of the FMLN's political commission, stated that the FMLN would not form coalitions for the Legislative Assembly but would still consider forming coalitions for the municipal elections. In October 2023, Funes stated that the FMLN aimed to win 16 or 17 seats in the Legislative Assembly.

On 29 May 2023, Flores officially registered as a pre-candidate for the presidency; Werner Marroquín registered as Flores' running-mate. Flores was the party's only presidential pre-candidate to register, although Jaime Zavaleta expressed interest in securing the party's nomination. Flores confirmed that the FMLN would not form a coalition with ARENA or any right-wing political parties. The FMLN was open to forming a presidential coalition with Vamos, Nuestro Tiempo, and PAIS, but ultimately did not join any presidential coalition. In October 2023, Óscar Ortiz assured that the FMLN's candidates represented the "hope and future of the country" ("esperanza y el futuro del país").

The party originally planned to hold its primary elections on 11 June 2023, but after the reduction of seats in the Legislative Assembly, its primaries were postponed to 2 July and then again to 16 July. In April 2023, Flores asked the party to not select politicians with a "corrupt past" ("pasado corrupto") during the primary elections. On 16 July, Flores and Marroquín were officially elected as the FMLN's presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively. The party also elected 44 municipal candidates and 60 candidates for the Legislative Assembly from all fourteen departments. According to Citizen Action, the FMLN stated that it would not disclose its entire list of candidates due to alleged threats made against its candidates for participating in the elections. The FMLN initiated the process to register Flores' and Marroquín's candidacies with the TSE on 7 September. On 7 October, the TSE stated that it could not yet register the FMLN's candidates because both candidates' Court of Accounts of the Republic were not presented with updated photos, proof of solvency from the Ministry of Finance was not up to date, and membership forms lacked signatures and notary seals. On 23 October, Flores assured that he had responded to the TSE's concerns. The TSE officially voted to register Flores and Marroquín's candidacies on 3 November 2023 with all five TSE magistrates voting in favor. By 11 October, the FMLN had begun the registration process for all its candidates to the Legislative Assembly in all 14 departments. On 28 October, the FMLN began registering its municipal candidates from San Salvador. On 16 November, the party began the process to register all 20 of its PARLACEN candidates. That same day, Óscar Ortiz stated that the party would consider dropping out of the 2024 elections if they were unable to continue financing its electoral campaigns as a result of debts accumulated during the 2019 and 2021 elections.

In October 2023, Flores stated that he believed he will win the presidential election in the first round, making a second round irrelevant. In September 2023, Flores stated that, if elected, he would maintain the state of exception if the country's population is in support of it. He also stated that all criminals "will continue to stay in prison and we will pursue all criminals" ("van a seguir en la cárcel y vamos a perseguir a todos los criminales"). Regarding corruption, Flores stated that "corruption is not combatted, corruption is avoided [...] in my government, I will not present corrupt individuals to form part of by cabinet" ("la corrupción no se combate, la corrupción se evita [...] en mi gobierno no voy a presentar corruptos que formen parte del gabinete"). Flores has promised to invest US$30 million in the transportation sector and reduce the price of transportation fares for students by half, which would affect around 150,000 students in the country. Flores has promised to launch the "Zero Hunger" ("Hambre Cero") initiative to combat hunger by investing US$60 million into building three "zero hunger supply centers" ("centros de abastecimiento hambre cero") which would distribute grain. Flores also proposed raising the minimum pension from US$50 per day to US$70 per day. He has announced his "Prosperous Municipalities" ("Municipios Prósperos") plan to develop and invest in the country's municipalities. Flores has promised to launch investigations into all of Bukele's government officials should he be elected president.

Grand Alliance for National Unity

In December 2022, Gallegos stated that the party sought to increase the amount of seats it has in the Legislative Assembly from 5 to 15. Before the reduction of municipalities of legislative seats, Gallegos stated that the party sought to increase its number of mayors from 34 to over 100. After the reductions of municipalities, Gallegos stated that GANA will seek to win 12 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 15 municipalities. Gallegos initially stating he would seek re-election to the Legislative Assembly, but then later stated that he was running for mayor of San Salvador Centro, and then again reverted his decision again stating that he would be seeking re-election to the Legislative Assembly.

Prior to Bukele's registration as a presidential pre-candidate with Nuevas Ideas on 26 June 2023, some GANA leaders believed that Bukele could seek re-election with GANA rather than Nuevas Ideas as he was initially elected in 2019 as a member of GANA. In July 2022, Gallegos stated that GANA would endorse Bukele's re-election campaign if he ran under the banner of another party instead of GANA. On 16 June 2023, Gallegos stated that GANA would not participate in the presidential election unless Bukele was the party's candidate. On 26 June, Gallegos confirmed that GANA would not run a presidential or vice presidential candidate, stating that the party supports Bukele's re-election campaign.

The party originally planned to hold its primary elections on 2 July 2023, but after the reduction of municipalities, the party delayed its primaries until 16 July. The party held its primaries on 16 July and elected 44 municipal candidates, 60 deputies to the Legislative Assembly from all fourteen departments, and deputies to PARLACEN. GANA formed one municipal coalition with Nuevas Ideas for San Miguel Centro and one municipal coalition with the PCN for Chalatenango Centro. Unlike in the 2021 election, GANA did not form coalitions with Nuevas Ideas for the Legislative Assembly elections.

By 25 October 2023, GANA had initiated the registration process for all of its legislative candidates in all 14 departments. On 20 November, GANA began to register all 20 of its PARLACEN candidates.

National Coalition Party

Before the reduction of municipalities of legislative seats, Manuel Rodríguez stated that the PCN sought to increase the number of deputies in the Legislative Assembly from 3 to 9 and increase the number of mayors from 2 to 33.

The party originally planned to hold its primary elections on 5 July 2023, but after the reduction of municipalities, it delayed its primaries for 16 July. The party opened its primaries on 16 July and concluded them on 20 July. The PCN formed a coalition with the PDC to jointly contest both legislative seats of Morazán. It also formed a coalition with the Citizen Power civil movement for legislative seats and municipalities in San Salvador. The coalition is unofficial as Citizen Power is not a registered political party. In August 2023, Rodríguez confirmed that the PCN would not present a presidential candidate. According to Citizen Action, the PCN stated that it would not disclose its entire list of candidates due to alleged threats made against its candidates for participating in the elections. The PCN formed one municipal coalition with GANA for Chalatenango Centro and two municipal coalitions with the PDC for the Morazán Norte and Morazán Sur.

By 26 October 2023, the PCN had initiated the process to register its legislative candidates in 12 departments. By 23 November, the PCN began the process to register all 20 of its PARLACEN candidates.

Christian Democratic Party

On 5 June 2023, Reinaldo Carballo, the PDC's secretary-general, announced that the party would not have a presidential candidate. He confirmed that the party would participate in the legislative and municipal elections, and that the party was reorganizing its electoral process to adjust for the reduction of municipalities and seats in the Legislative Assembly. After the reduction of municipalities and legislative seats, Carballo stated that the party expects to win at least 10 municipalities and 12 seats in the Legislative Assembly.

The PDC originally planned to hold its primary elections on 14 May 2023, but later postponed them to 2 July and then again to 20 July. The party opened its primaries four days early on 16 July and closing them on 19 July. Carballo reaffirmed that the PDC would not have a presidential candidate and stated that the party supported Bukele's re-election campaign. The PDC formed a coalition with the PCN to jointly contest both legislative seats of Morazán, as well as the seats for both the Morazán Norte and Morazán Sur municipalities. The PDC disclosed its full list of 20 legislative, 23 municipal, and 2 PARLACEN candidates on 24 September. Carballo reaffirmed that the PDC would not present a presidential candidate, stating "we have not found a Salvadoran who could beat Nayib Bukele" ("no hemos encontrado un salvadoreño que le pueda ganar a Nayib Bukele").

By 26 October 2023, the PDC had initiated the process to register its legislative candidates in 9 departments. On 23 November, the party began to register all 20 of its PARLACEN candidates.

Nuestro Tiempo

In March 2023, Andy Failer, the leader of Nuestro Tiempo, indicated that the party was open to forming coalitions with other parties and confirmed that the party would select presidential and vice presidential candidates. On 13 April, during an interview on Channel 21, Failer confirmed that the party would not form a coalition with ARENA or the FMLN but was still considering a coalition with Vamos; Vamos expressed disinterest in forming a coalition with Nuestro Tiempo. On 22 May, El Faro alleged that Nuestro Tiempo was in negotiations with ARENA, the FMLN, and Vamos to form a political coalition for the presidential election to oppose Bukele, but Nuestro Tiempo reaffirmed that it would form a coalition with ARENA or the FMLN. On 26 July, Failer proposed on Twitter to form a "Democratic National Union" ("Unión Nacional Democrática") with ARENA and the FMLN for a presidential or legislative coalition, but both ARENA and the FMLN reiterated that they would not form a coalition with each other.

On 31 May 2023, Luis Parada, a lawyer who resides in the U.S., announced that he was running for president. His candidacy was proposed by Sumar por El Salvador. Celia Medrano, a human rights lawyer, is Parada's running mate. The following day during an interview with Telecorporación Salvadoreña's Frente a Frente, Failer confirmed that Parada and Medrano were both running under the banner of Nuestro Tiempo, adding that "it's to elect between democracy and dictatorship; if we unite ourselves behind this, we will change what is happening to our country" ("es para elegir entre democracia y dictadura; si nos unimos detrás de eso, vamos a cambiar lo que está pasando en nuestro país"). Parada had previously sought ARENA's 2019 presidential nomination.

The party originally planned to hold its primary elections for president and vice president on 25 June 2023 and its primary elections for deputies and mayors on 2 July, but after the reduction of municipalities, the party decided to hold all its primary elections on 15 July. According to Sofía González, the president of Nuestro Tiempo's permanent electoral commission, Nuestro Tiempo would contest legislative seats in 8 departments and the mayorships of 19 municipalities. The party will not participate in the PARLACEN elections as it believes that PARLACEN is a waste of the government's resources. On 15 July, Nuestro Tiempo held its primary elections and officially elected Parada and Medrano as its presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively, awarding them 100 percent of the vote. The party also elected 18 municipal candidates and 40 deputy candidates in seven departments.

In an interview with Channel 9 in July 2023, Parada stated that, if elected, he would review the necessity and constitutionality of the state of exception. In August 2023, Parada stated that he would suspend the state of exception, describing it as "nothing more than propaganda of the current Government" ("nada más la propaganda del Gobierno actual") and as an "illusion" ("ilusión").

On 25 October 2023, Nuestro Tiempo began the process to register its presidential and vice presidential candidates. By 26 October, Nuestro Tiempo had initiated the process to register its legislative candidates in 5 departments.

Vamos

On 5 March 2023, Vamos formally announced that it would not run a presidential candidate or compete in the PARLACEN elections. Claudia Ortiz announced her intention to be re-elected as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly and that she would not seek a presidential candidacy. She later added that winning control of the Legislative Assembly was more important that winning the presidency and that she will fight throughout the next presidential term. Sofía Vaquerano, the party's legal secretary, stated that Vamos would not form coalitions with individuals who had been accused of being corrupt.

Initially, Claudia Ortiz stated that the party was open to forming a coalition with other parties, but later stated that the party would not seek any political coalition. On 22 May 2023, El Faro alleged that Vamos was in negotiations with ARENA, the FMLN, and Nuestro Tiempo to form a political coalition for the presidential election to oppose Bukele. In response, Vamos stated that it would focus more on the Legislative Assembly than on winning the presidency.

The party originally planned to hold its primary elections on 18 June 2023, but after the reduction of municipalities, the party postponed its primaries to 16 July. During the primaries, Vamos elected 8 municipal candidates and 32 deputy candidates for the Legislative Assembly in five departments. Additionally, Cesia Rivas was elected as the party's new secretary general. By 26 October, Vamos had initiated the process to register its legislative candidates in 5 departments.

Salvadoran Independent Party

In December 2022, Roy García stated that the party sought to win between 20 and 25 deputies in the Legislative Assembly and between 90 and 100 mayors. PAIS sought to ally with opposition political parties such as ARENA, the FMLN, Vamos, Nuestro Tiempo, or the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity (FPS).

Samuel Tejada, the party's affiliation secretary, stated that the party would select presidential and vice presidential candidates. Gerardo Awad, a former presidential pre-candidate for ARENA in 2019, sought a presidential campaign with PAIS. In July 2022, PAIS refused to allow him to run with the party, and in January 2023, Awad announced that he would no longer seek to run for president with PAIS. Awad invited Mario Vega, the senior pastor of Misión Cristiana Elim Internacional, to be his vice presidential candidate, but Vega declined Awad's offer and stated that he did not intend to seek any public office during the 2024 election. On 4 June 2023, Awad officially announced his withdrawal from the 2024 election as he did not believe that conditions were favorable for his campaign, but he stated that he would prepare for a new presidential campaign in 2029.

PAIS planned to hold its elections on 11 June 2023, but Roy García contrarily claimed that the party would not hold elections and instead participate as a social movement in a coalition with another party. After the reduction of municipalities, the party postponed its primaries until 2 July, but the party ended up holding its primary elections on 16 July. On 16 August, the party sought to hold a meeting with the TSE to discuss the party's status ahead of the 2024 election as the party believed that the TSE showed a lack of recognition of its primary elections. The party stated that it would hold a street protest if the TSE failed to meet with PAIS within eight days.

On 28 August 2023, PAIS deputy secretary Carlos Molina announced that it selected José Cardoza, an agricultural engineer, as its presidential candidate and Irma Sosa as its vice presidential candidate. The party also presented its legislative, municipal, and PARLACEN candidates, however, Roy García stated on Facebook that Molina's announcement was not legitimate and that all of the party's candidates were invalid. He added that the party should wait and reorganize for the 2027 legislative election. On 21 September, PAIS began the process to register Cardoza's and Sosa's candidacies with the TSE, however, on 4 October, the TSE passed a resolution to deregister the party and disallow it from participating in the 2024 election. Cardoza denounced the resolution stating that it was undemocratic. Meanwhile, Roy García reiterated that PAIS should wait to participate in the 2027 legislative election as he believed that the party had no chance in winning the 2024 election and was in danger of falling into irrelevance. On 13 October, Herbert Vega Cruz, a lawyer for PAIS, accused the TSE magistrates of committing electoral fraud for deregistering the party and rejecting its candidates. By 26 October, PAIS began the process to register all its legislative candidates in 9 departments. Supporters of Roy García falsely claimed that they had registered "more than 600 candidates" ("más de 600 candidatos") when they could only register up to 60. On 28 November, the TSE stated that it would not register any of PAIS' presidential, legislative, municipal, or PARLACEN candidates.

Solidarity Force

Solidarity Force originally scheduled its primary elections for 2 July 2023, but after the reduction of the municipalities, its primaries were delayed for 16 July. The party first announced its primary elections on 5 March, when it was not officially registered with the TSE as a political party. On 31 March, the TSE officially allowed the party to participate in the elections. The party announced its elections again on 7 April, as its original announcement was considered to be invalid by the TSE. Some deputies from ARENA, the FMLN, Nuestro Tiempo, and Vamos criticized the TSE for allowing the Solidarity Force to register, describing the process as favoritism and illegal.

On 16 July 2023, Solidarity Force held its primary elections for the 44 municipalities, 16 deputies for San Salvador, and 1 deputy for Ahuachapán, La Paz, Santa Ana, and Sonsonate each. Rigoberto Soto, Solidarity Force's leader, stated that the party would complete is primary elections for the remaining departments' deputies by 19 July, and also stated that the party could still present a presidential candidate by the same date. He added that the party would be open to forming coalitions with other parties except for with ARENA or the FMLN. On 24 July, Solidarity Force announced that Javier Renderos, an obstetrician, would be its presidential candidate and that Rafael Montalvo, an agriculturist, would be its vice presidential candidate. The party stated that both candidates had been elected on 16 July. Solidarity Force formed a municipal coalition with Democratic Change for Usulután Oeste.

On 23 October 2023, Solidarity Force began the process to register its presidential and vice presidential candidates as well as its legislative candidates for San Salvador. By 26 October, the party had initiated the process to register its legislative candidates in 9 departments. On 23 November, the party began the process to register all 20 of its PARLACEN candidates.

Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity

The Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity held its primary elections from 16 to 20 July 2023. On 27 August, the party announced that it selected Marina Murillo, an architect, as its presidential candidate and Fausto Carranza as its vice presidential candidate. Murillo is the first woman to run for president of El Salvador since Rina Escalante ran with the Authentic Democratic Christian Movement in the 1994 presidential election.

On 23 October 2023, the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity began the process to register its presidential and vice presidential candidates. It did not register any legislative candidates. On 23 November, the party began to register all 20 of its PARLACEN candidates.

Democratic Change

Democratic Change initially planned to hold its primary elections on 4 June 2023, but later rescheduled them for 19 July. Democratic Change held its primary elections from 16 to 19 July and elected legislative, municipal, and PARLACEN candidates. Democratic Change formed two municipal coalitions with Nuevas Ideas for Sonsonate Oeste and Santa Ana Norte and one municipal coalition with Solidarity Force for Usulután Oeste. On 26 October, the party registered all its legislative candidates in 13 departments. By 23 November, the party began the process to register all 20 of its PARLACEN candidates.

Salvadoran Democracy

Salvadoran Democracy stated it would hold its primary elections on 7 May 2023, but it ultimately did not hold primary elections and will not participate in the 2024 election. It did not register any legislative or PARLACEN candidates.

Independents

Registration for independent candidates began on 5 May 2023 and ended on 5 September. Manuel Meléndez was the only independent to begin registration with the TSE, however, he abandoned the registration process on 16 August.

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2024 Salvadoran general election

See also: Opinion polling on the Nayib Bukele presidency

Opinion polling has been conducted by various groups such as CIESCA, Fundaungo, La Prensa Gráfica, TResearch, and UFG prior to the 2024 general election; virtually every poll conducted indicates significant leads for Nuevas Ideas in the presidential, legislative, and municipal elections. Additionally, opinion polling has been conducted whether or not Salvadorans support Bukele's re-election; virtually every poll indicates that a large majority of Salvadorans would support Bukele's re-election. Many Salvadoran Americans also support Bukele's re-election.

Results

Presidential results

Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%
	Nayib Bukele	Félix Ulloa	Nuevas Ideas
	Joel Sánchez	Hilcia Bonilla	Nationalist Republican Alliance
	Manuel Flores	Werner Marroquín	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
	Luis Parada	Celia Medrano	Nuestro Tiempo
	Javier Renderos	Rafael Montalvo	Solidarity Force
	Marina Murillo	Fausto Carranza	Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity
Total
Registered voters/turnout				6,258,848	–

Legislative Assembly results

Party		Votes	%	+/–
	Nuevas Ideas			–
	Nationalist Republican Alliance			–
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front			–
	Grand Alliance for National Unity			–
	National Coalition Party			–
	Christian Democratic Party			–
	PDC–PCN			–
	Nuestro Tiempo			–
	Vamos			–
	Democratic Change			–
	Solidarity Force			New
Total				–24
Registered voters/turnout		6,258,848	–

Municipal results

Party		Votes	%	+/–
	Nuevas Ideas			–
	NI–GANA			–
	NI–CD			–
	Nationalist Republican Alliance			–
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front			–
	Grand Alliance for National Unity			–
	GANA–PCN			–
	National Coalition Party			–
	Christian Democratic Party			–
	PDC–PCN			–
	Nuestro Tiempo			–
	Vamos			–
	Democratic Change			–
	Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity			–
	Solidarity Force			New
	FS–CD			–
Total				–218
Registered voters/turnout		5,517,754	–

PARLACEN results

Party		Votes	%	+/–
	Nuevas Ideas			–
	Nationalist Republican Alliance			–
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front			–
	Grand Alliance for National Unity			–
	National Coalition Party			–
	Christian Democratic Party			–
	Democratic Change			–
	Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity			–
	Solidarity Force			New
Total				0
Registered voters/turnout		5,517,754	–

See also

• Elections in El Salvador
• List of elections in 2024
  • 2024 national electoral calendar
  • 2024 local electoral calendar

Further reading

• Bonilla, Daniel; Labrador, Gabriel; Reyes, Daniel (11 September 2023). "Un Mapa Electoral a la Medida de Nuevas Ideas" [An Electoral Map Tailored to Nuevas Ideas]. El Faro (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
• Brown, Rich (14 December 2023). "Meet the Candidates: El Salvador". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
• Crespín, Verónica (27 September 2023). "Las 7 Fórmulas Presidenciales Interesadas en Competir en Elecciones 2024" [The 7 Presidential Formulas Interested in Competing in the 2024 Elections]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2023.
• Dimas, Andres; Palacios, Claudia; Salvador, Carlos; Quintanilla, Jaime; Valencia, Daniel (17 July 2023). "Parada, Flores, y Sánchez Lideran Tres Bloques con Poco Margen para Alianzas" [Parada, Flores, and Sánchez Lead Three Blocs with Little Margin for Alliances]. FOCOS TV (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 July 2023.
• Labrador, Gabriel (28 September 2023). "La Campaña Electoral Arranca con Una Oposición Debilitada y Sin Oportunidades de Victoria" [The Electoral Campaign Begins with a Debilitated Opposition with No Opportunities for Victory]. El Faro (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2023.
• Labrador, Gabriel (19 December 2023). ""Veo a los Cinco Candidatos de Oposición como Jugadores de un Mismo Equipo"" ["I See the Five Opposition Candidates as Players of the Same Team]. El Faro (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
• Labrador, Gabriel; Gavarrete, Julia (19 October 2023). "Manuel Flores: "No es Necesario Ganar Elecciones para Transformar un País"" [Manuel Flores: "It Is Not Necessary to Win the Elections In Order to Transform a Country]. El Faro (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 October 2023.
• Martínez, Verónica (21 August 2023). "Partidos de Oposición Continúan Buscando Llevar una Sola Candidatura Presidencial, Aseguró Villacorta" [Opposition Parties Continue Seeking to Present a Single Presidential Candidacy, Assures Villacorta]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
• Martínez, Verónica (13 October 2023). "W. Araujo: «Esta Elección se Termina el Día que el TSE Diga que Nayib Bukele es un Candidato Habilitado»" [W. Araujo: "This Election is Over the Day that the TSE Says that Nayib Bukele is a Registered Candidate"]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
• Morales, David (27 July 2023). "'Chino' Flores Insiste en que su Candidatura Presidencial es «la Más Genuina y Apegada a la Constitución»" ["Chino" Flores Insists that His Presidential Candidacy is "the Most Genuine and Connected to the Constitution"]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
• Morales, David (23 August 2023). "Vicepresidencial de Fuerza Solidaria: «Sé Que No Voy a Ganar», los Candidatos de Oposición no Tienen Ninguna Posibilidad" [Vice Presidential Candidate of Solidarity Force: "I Know I Will Not Win", the Opposition Candidates Do Not Have a Chance]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
• Renteria, Nelson; Madry, Kylie (3 October 2023). Kao, Josie (ed.). "El Salvador Kicks Off Election Campaigns as Incumbent's Bid Faces Criticism Over Constitutionality". Reuters. San Salvador, El Salvador. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
• Valencia, Ricardo (19 September 2022). "Opinión | Al Buscar la Reelección, Bukele Recrea la Vieja Historia del Caudillo Latinoamericano" [Opinion | In Seeking Re-Election, Bukele Recreates the Old History of the Caudillo in Latin America]. The Washington Post (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 January 2023.

External links

• Supreme Electoral Court website (in Spanish)
  • Constitution of El Salvador (in Spanish)
  • Election Guide (in Spanish)
  • Electoral Code (in Spanish)
  • Law of Political Parties (in Spanish)
  • Special Law for the Exercise of Suffrage Abroad (in Spanish)