El Salvador Election

ELECTION DAY UPDATE

ARENA Wins the Presidency, FMLN Declares Fear the Real Winner
March 22, 2004

Amidst a sea of red, white, and blue flags and chants of "Homeland Yes, Communism No," the rightwing held its eerie celebration last night. By an unexpectedly high margin, Tony Saca, ARENA’s presidential candidate, won the elections and secured another five years of executive power for ARENA.
Although the first results of exit polls yesterday afternoon had shown the FMLN leading a tight race, the first actual ballot counts painted a different picture. In ballot box after ballot box, observers watched as the JRVs counted more votes for ARENA than for any other party. By 9:00 in the evening, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) released the first official results. With 36 percent of the ballots counted, ARENA had received 59.9% of the vote, the FMLN 32.9%, the CDU-PDC 3.6%, and the PCN 3.6%. Later in the night, with more of the ballots counted, the tendency remained the same.
By 10:30 at night the FMLN held its closing rally. Hundreds of people chanted, waved flags, and cheered as Schafik took the microphone. Schafik recognized that at that point, ARENA was winning the elections. However, he clarified, he will not congratulate Tony Saca for the victory because the real winner of the elections is fear. The rightwing was able to instill an incredible fear in the population, and that fear is what detained an FMLN victory.
Although FMLN activists across the country were sad and incredibly disappointed at the election results, the rally served to lift people’s spirits as the FMLN looks ahead. Schafik assured the crowd that this is not a step back for the FMLN. The FMLN continues to be a party of resistance, and the FMLN is already preparing for the struggles to come. The next important struggle for the FMLN is to stop CAFTA. And as they have until now, the FMLN will continue to accompany the social movement in their struggles against privatization and against neoliberalism.


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First Polls Show a Tight Race, Victory Still Undefined
March 21, 2004
7:00 pm [EST]

Voting centers closed right at 5:00 pm, and the first numbers are already being released. At this point, the numbers are so mixed that it is impossible to predict a winner. The first to release its exit poll results was the independent Canal 12, which put the FMLN ahead with 49.6 percent of the vote, followed by ARENA with 43.1 percent of the vote. A later analysis by the same pollsters put the FMLN ahead by only 2 points, at 47 to 45 percent, which parallels the Technological University’s (UTEC) results. All of these polls signal that the elections will go to a second round. At the same time, the right- wing television stations began reporting the first vote counts, which they claimed gave ARENA 57 percent of the vote and the FMLN 36 percent.
In San Miguel and Usulután, two municipalities where CISPES observers have been observing, ARENA has been ahead in the first vote counts. In San Miguel especially there is a great sense of disappointment, as many people believe the results reflect the high amount of vote buying. In other municipalities in the department of Usulután there is also a sense of disappointment, where ARENA is also leading the FMLN.
Just 30 minutes after the voting centers closed, at a moment in which it is still impossible to determine a winner, ARENA was already declaring victory. The right-wing press is fully collaborating in ARENA’s manipulation, showing images of ARENA victory parties around the country. The FMLN is saying that it is still too early to be able to determine the results.
It looks possible that the elections will be determined in a second round, although the FMLN still considers it possible that Schafik could win in the first round.



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One Hour Left for Voters to Arrive to the Overfilled Voting Centers – Elections Update III

March 21, 2004
5:00 pm [EST]


This afternoon voting centers remain saturated as people continue arriving and waiting to vote. The incredible voter turnout today is especially important considering the campaign of fear that ARENA has been pushing for the last two months.
Considering the tension that had been generated by rumors of plans for violence, things remain relatively calm around the country.
The problems at the voting centers persist. In Ahuachapán at least four Guatemalans were just stopped when they were trying to vote, and another three people were detained, each carrying three DUIs (the documents used for voting) each.
Another of the main problems that CISPES observers continue to witness is the total lack of secrecy at the voting stations. In outdoor voting centers, the Vote-Receptor Boards (JRVs) have repositioned their tables and the voting booths in such a way that it is possible for them to see how the voters are voting.
This lack of secrecy is worrisome, especially considering all of the denouncements of vote buying that observers are receiving. In many municipalities ARENA has a “computing center” near the voting center, where they claim to be helping people locate the table where they will vote. However, many people have reported to observers that these buildings are being used to buy votes. Observers have seen people leave these centers with small pieces of paper marked with ARENA’s flag, with multiple DUIs, and with money. In San Miguel an ARENA representative invited CISPES observers into the office, and in a loud voice announced how they could see that nothing bad was going on. However, when one observer detected a box full of cash and tried to take a picture, the people of ARENA blocked her and began shouting and creating a distraction.

Voters still have one hour before the voting centers close, at which point everyone who is already in the centers should be allowed to vote before stopping the vote and beginning the official count.



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Incredibly High Voter Turnout Creating Both Excitement and Confusion – Elections Update II

March 21, 2004
1:00 pm [EST]


Voters are currently turning out in historic numbers, filling the voting centers across the country. Energy is high and many voters are enthusiastically wearing their party colors as they go out to vote. Reports from Sonsonate, Suchitoto, San Miguel, Soyapango, Chalatenango, and Ahuachapán are that the voting centers are filled with red.
The high voter turnout is creating not only an atmosphere of excitement, but also one of slight chaos. In many voting centers the lines are already incredibly long, both to enter the voting centers and then at specific voting tables within the centers. In one municipality the ballot boxes are already full, and a team has gone to the TSE to try to get more. In others, voters are waiting in line over three hours before they can vote. The high number of voters has also created confusion, and many voters are having trouble finding their names on the voter lists. Observers have received reports that there are people in the voting centers who tell those looking for help to go to a house or ARENA offices where they will be “oriented.”
Observers have also received denouncements about vote buying, particularly around San Miguel. Reports are that people from ARENA went out into a small, nearby community yesterday and bought or “rented” many people’s DUIs. (The Unique Identification Document – DUI – is the identification used for voting in El Salvador.) Observers are also seeing many voting booths that are not removed or secret. In Usulután people are standing behind many of the voting booths, watching people vote, and then signaling to ARENA’s vigilantes.
Although it is hot outside, CISPES observers are all well, receiving not only denouncements but also shade, water, and support from the people in the voting centers. And despite the confusion and saturation of the voting centers, the general feeling in El Salvador remains optimistic and enthusiastic.



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Excitement and Corruption Mark the Opening of Voting Centers
– Electoral Update I

March 21, 2004
8:45 am [EST]

After so many months of campaigning and anticipation,voting has finally begun in most of El Salvador. Voting centers, which should open at 7:00 [8:00 EST] am, have been opening over the past hour, many with voters already lined up and waiting. Elections observers arrived at 5:00 am, when many people were already out and preparing the voting centers.

CISPES election observers are in various municipalities around the country. In San Miguel, where a roped-off 2-mile section of the main street through town serves as the voting center, observers report that things are already chaotic. Before the voting center opened there were already bands of ARENA’s people wandering around in their red, white, and blue vests. Just blocks away, observers were able to easily witness an ARENA team buying votes. When the observers came upon them, they tried to quickly hide the money and pamphlets.

In San Miguel there is also a high police presence in the voting center, including police helicopters circling overhead. In many places voting booths have been set up just feet from the vote receptor tables (JRV – the place where people receive their ballots), making it impossible for the vote to be secret. In Usulután observers report that although many of the JRVs set up late, things are otherwise running smoothly. Other reports from around the country are of an atmosphere excitement and anticipation. Salvadorans are turning out early to participate in making this historic national decision.