Technical difficulties impede preliminary election results
As of this morning, the website of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) is still not reporting preliminary results for yesterday’s elections. In a press conference at 2 AM this morning, the TSE announced that the company that was hired to process the preliminary results and make them public on the web had not done so and that the TSE had now hired a different company to carry out the task the first one failed to do. TSE President Julio Olivo announced that vote tally sheets (actas) were being received correctly from the country’s voting centers and that the integrity of the vote count had not been compromised. The final count, which verifies the vote tally sheets from every voting center under the supervision of the TSE, representatives of every political party, the Attorney General’s office, and the Electoral Oversight Board is expected to begin as planned tomorrow afternoon. This final count is what officially and legally determines the results of yesterday’s elections.
While the TSE’s preliminary results haven’t been made public, poll workers present at the vote counts in the nearly 1,600 community voting centers across the country have reported unofficial results of many of the municipal elections. It appears that the FMLN won the municipal elections in San Salvador as well as many of its populous suburbs, including Soyapango, Mejicanos, and Nejapa. Furthermore, in the country’s second most populous city of San Miguel, 5-term mayor Will Salgado of the GANA party has conceded defeat to the FMLN candidate Miguel Pereira. The San Salvador suburb of Santa Tecla, which was previously governed by now-vice president Oscar Ortiz, appears to have been won by ARENA candidate Roberto d’Aubuisson, Jr.
CISPES observers reported no major anomalies and a generally peaceful atmosphere, despite the fact that the vote count didn’t end until sunrise Monday morning at some voting centers because of the new and tedious-to-count “cross-vote” system. Observer missions from the Organization of American States (OAS) and United Nations (UN) have also reported that the elections were peaceful and transparent.
Read more coverage on teleSUR English, including interviews with CISPES observers, here.
"I am a CISPES supporter because continuing to fight for social justice and a more people-centered country means continuing the dream and sacrifice of thousands of my fellow Salvadorans who died for that vision.” - Padre Carlos, New York City
