also in this update:

• Women’s Association of Tecoluca denounce ARENA for Political Violence
• Fuerza Solidaria and its “dirty” fear campaign
• 2007 Salvadoran Census and the extra 500,000 voters that no one can explain

The first week of December saw Electoral Observation Missions from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU) arrive in El Salvador.  Both organizations stated that their missions would work with impartiality and transparency to strengthen the democratic process in El Salvador.  The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the government body that oversees elections in the country, invited both missions.  TSE magistrate Eugenio Chicas of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party pointed out that the arrival of so many international observers highlights two realities: the electoral process “still has many irregularities,” and the left is poised to win the presidency, generating international interest in the elections.

The FMLN has welcomed the presence of international observers, including the OAS and EU, but maintains that many of the electoral reforms passed last year by the TSE—which is dominated by right-wing magistrates—and the TSE’s refusal to make the voter registry available to all parties have opened up the process to the possibility of fraud.  FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes, who leads by as much as 16 points in recent polls over the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), has met with OAS leadership to discuss his concerns about electoral fraud.

Early in 2008, the OAS recommended that the TSE undergo internal reforms to further prevent corruption and fraud in the electoral process. These reforms included making the electoral roll public, updating the electoral register (e.g. purging the names of dead people from voter rolls), and re-structuring procedures that could enable fraudulent, unverified ballots from being counted. 

While the TSE proclaims that it has carried out the necessary OAS recommendations, the expected arrive of the largest-ever contingent of international observers suggests otherwise. Over 2,000 international election observers are expected to monitor polling places in El Salvador’s 262 municipalities to prevent fraud and corruption in the January elections, overseeing tasks ordinarily preformed by the TSE.

Women’s Association of Tecoluca denounce ARENA for political violence

November marked the official beginning of El Salvador's presidential campaign season, and it didn't take long for ARENA to revert to its old dirty campaign tricks, inciting fear in the Salvadoran population to sway the results of the 2009 elections. On December 1, ARENA activists physically assaulted and smeared paint on the face of a local member of the Women’s Association of Tecoluca, Yesenia Portillo, after she asserted that the ARENA campaigners’ actions violated local zoning laws in the municipality of San Romero de Tecoluca.

The incident occurred when the ARENA members set out to cover the sidewalks, curbs, and posts of San Romero province with ARENA campaign propaganda. However, upon realizing ARENA’s mass painting efforts violated local zoning laws, Yesenia Portillo set out to confront the ARENA activists. 

When Portillo approached the activists, an ARENA campaigner known as “el Tucan” struck Portillo with his open hand, leaving her face covered in paint.

ARENA mayor Dimas Villalta refused to recognize the illegal campaign tactics of the ARENA members, stating “everything that happened was due to the antagonism of the women of San Romero.” 

Fuerza Solidaria, and its “dirty” fear campaign

ARENA’s right wing ally group Fuerza Solidaria’s fear-based campaigning continues to escalate as El Salvador closes in on the January and March elections. One of the most recent television advertisements continues to incite fear in the population by connecting Mauricio Funes to Hugo Chavez. The advertisement quotes Dan Restrepo, U.S. President-elect Obama's advisor on Latin America, as stating “Obama does not support the anti-Americanism” of Hugo Chavez. The ad claims that Chavez wants to spread this anti-Americanism by intervening in other countries, including El Salvador. The message the ad attempts to send to voters is that, by supporting the FMLN, they are aligning themselves with Chavez and against the United States. 

By framing support for the FMLN as a direct threat to El Salvador's relationship with the US, Fuerza Solidaria continues to use fear based tactics to sway the results of the 2009 election.  You can view some of the ads on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbx9pYAc2qQ& and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om47szVuA6I& 

2007 Salvadoran Census and the extra 500,000 voters that no one can explain

Concerns remain about population data from El Salvador's 2007 census which included an unaccounted-for 500,000 voters that no one, not even the electoral records, can explain.

According to FMLN legislators, the ARENA government manipulated the 2007 census, inflating the population in areas with strong ARENA support, and deflating the population in strong FMLN provinces, all with the intention of facilitating electoral fraud and manipulation. 

The 2007 census does not account for children in four municipalities, stating these municipalities populations consist solely of eligible voters (18 years of age and older). In the municipality of Comalapa, Chalatenango, for example, the electoral registry accounts for 3,065 voters. However, according to the 2007 census, 2,996 people live in the municipality, indicating a total population that is 69 people fewer than the number of voters accounted for by the electoral registry. Not only does the census understate the total voting population in Comalapa, but it also denies the existence of children younger than voting age.

In Santa Tecla, an area with strong FMLN support, the 2007 census data states the population decreased by 38% from the previous count; meanwhile, the population in Huizúcar, a strong ARENA municipality, increased by 34%.

ARENA legislator Alberto Romero explained that these extreme population fluctuations resulted from migration away from some cities. However, Roberto Lorenzana, head legislator of the FMLN, criticized the 2007 census, claiming that it is part of a series of ARENA’s attacks on the FMLN that attempt to diminish the party's electoral success in key municipalities.