PRESS RELEASE: For immediate release

Feb. 3, 2014

 Contact: Alexis Stoumbelis – Washington, DC (978) 394-0425, [email protected] Janette Linares – San Salvador +503-6150-9064, [email protected]

FMLN wins first round of presidential elections in El Salvador

International observers highlight peaceful proceedings, high voter confidence

San Salvador – With over 99% of polling places reporting, the candidate for the governing Farabundo Martí national Liberation Front (FMLN) party, Salvador Sanchez Cerén won handily the first round of El Salvador’s 2014 presidential election, earning nearly 49% of the vote. He holds a ten point lead over Norman Quijano of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), who placed second with 39%. Former president Tony Saca (1999-2004)  garnered just over 11% of the vote. The FMLN and ARENA will head to a run-off on March 9. According to the CISPES electoral observation mission, which included delegates from the National Lawyers Guild and various U.S. universities, the electoral proceedings were calm and peaceful. As Laura Embree-Lowry reported for CISPES’ mission, “This has been a much more transparent and peaceful process than we’ve observed in the past.” Observers noted the positive impact of several steps taken by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal over the past four years to increase both voter access and transparency, especially the new neighborhood voting system, which was carried out throughout the entire country for the first time on February 2. The mission reports several denouncements made to them throughout the day, primarily concerning voting centers that did not open to the public at 7:00 am as scheduled due to the absence of sufficient numbers of poll workers from the ARENA and Unidad parties, but these incidents were characterized as minor anomalies. Embree-Lowry noted, “CISPES has observed ever election since the Peace  Accords. Today’s election shows that the process of democratization in the country continues to advance.” Both Sánchez-Cerén and Quijano gave press conferences in San Salvador on Sunday night expressing satisfaction with the results and hope for a victory on March 9. The 70-person CISPES observer mission, together with the SHARE Foundation, US-El Salvador Sister Cities and other international organizations will issue a report on the election at a press conference on Tuesday in San Salvador. Please contact Janette Linares at +503-6150-9064 to schedule interviews with delegates. CISPES was formed in 1980 as a national organization to support a more just and democratic society in El Salvador.

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Read the statement by the observer mission organized by CISPES, SHARE, Cristosal and US-El Salvador Sisiter Cities here (in English)

Lee el comunicado de presna por la misión internacional orgnizado por CISPES, la Fundación SHARE, Cristosal y Ciudades Hermanas (en español)