2014 Salvadoran Presidential Election Sunday Feb 02,2014

On Sunday Feb 02,2014 the first round of the presidential election is scheduled in El Salvador

If no candidate receives a simple majority then a Run-Off Election between the two leading candidates will be held on March 9, 2014

Incumbent President Mauricio Funes is ineligible to run for a consecutive second term.

Sanchez Ceren's party, the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN), turned from a rebel group into a political party at the end of El Salvador's civil war (1980-92).
When the FMLN won the 2009 presidential election, Mauricio Funes became president and Mr Sanchez Ceren was named vice-president.

On October 22, 2012, the Supreme Electoral Tribune increased the total number of voting centers and assigned eligible voters to the voting center closest to their address. Previously, eligible voters were assigned to municipal voting centers alphabetically, forcing some to travel longer distances to vote. The 2014 presidential election will be the first election to follow such rules.

On January 24, 2013, the Legislative Assembly passed legislation to allow Salvadorans living abroad to vote in all future elections. 92% of Salvadorans living abroad are based in the  USA and Canada
According to the Supreme Electoral Tribune, there are 200,000 Salvadorans living internationally who are eligible to vote

In February 2013, Former President of El Salvador and GANA President, Antonio Saca, announced his presidential bid, with the backing of GANA, the Christian Democratic Party, and the National Conciliation Party

On September 6, 2013, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of El Salvador ruled that only party flags, not candidates faces, will appear on the ballot in the presidential election

On January 12, 2014, Quijano, Sánchez Cerén, Saca and two minor party candidates, Óscar Lemus of the Salvadoran Patriot Fraternity and René Rodriguez Hurtado of the Salvadoran Progressive Party, had their first debate ahead of the presidential election.

Presidential Candidates

Vice President Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the FMLN
San Salvador Mayor Norman Quijano of the ARENA
Former President Antonio Tony  Saca of the GANA


2014 Salvadoran Presidential Election Results

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Salvador Sanchez Ceren	Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN)	1,315,768	48.93	1,494,144	50.11
Norman Quijano	Nationalist Republican Alliance	1,047,592	38.96	1,487,510	49.89
Antonio Saca	Unity Movement	307,603	11.44
René Rodriguez Hurtado	Salvadoran Progressive Party	11,314	0.42
Óscar Lemus	Salvadoran Patriot Fraternity	6,659	0.25
Invalid/blank votes		34,310	–		–
Total		2,723,246	100
Registered voters/turnout 4,955,107 54.96                                                                                                                             Preliminary results suggest left-wing candidate Salvador Sanchez Ceren has a lead of 0.22 percentage points over his conservative rival Norman Quijano. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal asked the candidates to refrain from claiming victory, which both had done on Sunday. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced on Thursday March 13,2014 that Sanchez Ceren, a member of the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN), had won 50.11%  and Quijano, of the conservative Arena party, won 49.89% of the vote after a manual count. Former left-wing rebel Salvador Sanchez Ceren has won a tight presidential run-off election, El-Salvador's electoral tribunal has said. But his rival has the right to appeal and officials say a final declaration cannot yet be made. Conservative candidate Norman Quijano had earlier called for a new poll after preliminary results indicated a margin of victory of fewer than 7,000 votes. Sanchez Ceren would be the first ex-rebel to serve as president. He became vice president of El Salvador in 2009, while Mr Quijano was the mayor of the capital, San Salvador.