also in this update:

• WomensAssociation of Tecoluca denounce ARENA for Political Violence
• Fuerza Solidariaand its dirty fear campaign
• 2007 SalvadoranCensus and the extra 500,000 voters that no one can explain

The first week of December saw Electoral ObservationMissions 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 andtransparency to strengthen the democratic process in El Salvador.  The SupremeElectoral Tribunal (TSE), the government body that oversees elections in thecountry, invited both missions.  TSE magistrate Eugenio Chicas of theFarabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party pointed out that thearrival of so many international observers highlights two realities: the electoralprocess still has many irregularities, and the left is poised to win thepresidency, generating international interest in the elections.

The FMLN has welcomed the presence of internationalobservers, including the OAS and EU, but maintains that many of the electoralreforms passed last year by the TSEwhich is dominated by right-wingmagistratesand the TSEs refusal to make the voter registry available to allparties have opened up the process to the possibility of fraud.  FMLNpresidential candidate Mauricio Funes, who leads by as much as 16 points inrecent polls over the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), hasmet with OAS leadership to discuss his concerns about electoral fraud.

Early in 2008, the OAS recommendedthat the TSE undergo internal reforms to further prevent corruption and fraudin the electoral process. These reforms included making the electoralroll public, updating the electoral register (e.g. purging the names of deadpeople from voter rolls), and re-structuring procedures that could enablefraudulent, unverified ballots from being counted. 

While the TSE proclaims that it has carried out thenecessary OAS recommendations, the expected arrive of the largest-evercontingent of international observers suggests otherwise. Over 2,000international election observers are expected to monitor polling places in El Salvadors262 municipalities to prevent fraud and corruption in the January elections,overseeing tasks ordinarily preformed by the TSE.

WomensAssociation of Tecoluca denounce ARENA for political violence

November marked the official beginning of El Salvador's presidential campaignseason, and it didn't take long for ARENA to revert to its old dirty campaigntricks, inciting fear in the Salvadoran population to sway the results of the2009 elections. On December 1, ARENA activists physically assaulted and smearedpaint on the face of a local member of the Womens Association of Tecoluca,Yesenia Portillo, after she asserted that the ARENA campaigners actions violatedlocal zoning laws in the municipality of San Romero de Tecoluca.

The incident occurred when the ARENA members set out tocover the sidewalks, curbs, and posts of San Romero province with ARENAcampaign propaganda. However, upon realizing ARENAs mass painting effortsviolated local zoning laws, Yesenia Portillo set out to confront the ARENAactivists. 

When Portillo approached the activists, an ARENA campaignerknown as el Tucan struck Portillo with his open hand, leaving her facecovered in paint.

ARENA mayor Dimas Villalta refused to recognize the illegalcampaign tactics of the ARENA members, stating everything that happened wasdue to the antagonism of the women of San Romero. 

FuerzaSolidaria, and its dirty fear campaign

ARENAs right wing ally group Fuerza Solidariasfear-based campaigning continues to escalate as El Salvador closes in on theJanuary and March elections. One of the most recent television advertisementscontinues to incite fear in the population by connecting Mauricio Funes to HugoChavez. The advertisement quotes Dan Restrepo, U.S. President-elect Obama'sadvisor on Latin America, as stating Obama does not support theanti-Americanism of Hugo Chavez. The ad claims that Chavez wants to spreadthis 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, FuerzaSolidaria continues to use fear based tactics to sway the results of the2009 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& 

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

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

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

The 2007 census does not account for children in fourmunicipalities, stating these municipalities populations consist solely ofeligible 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 ofvoters accounted for by the electoral registry. Not only does the censusunderstate the total voting population in Comalapa, but it also denies theexistence of children younger than voting age.

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

ARENA legislator Alberto Romero explained that these extremepopulation 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 ARENAs attacks on the FMLN thatattempt to diminish the party's electoral success in key municipalities.