El Salvador's recent legislative elections have sparked controversy and allegations of fraud, leading to a crisis in the country's electoral process. The elections, held on February 4th, resulted in a legislature disproportionately dominated by President Nayib Bukele's party, raising concerns about the fairness of the electoral process. Allegations of fraud have been supported by evidence such as the voting software crashing on election day and ballots found without creases, as reported in a Jacobin article. Despite these issues, El Salvador's elections board has rejected petitions from opposition parties to annul the elections, further confirming the body's subordination to the partisan interests of the Bukele regime. This situation has led to criticism of the elections authority for withholding stipends for the majority of polling center workers who were unable to upload their results on election night, due to a combination of malfeasance and incompetence. The crisis has highlighted a substantial gap between the president's popularity and that of his legislators, and poses a challenge for US policymakers, given Bukele's successes in fighting criminal gangs and his popularity, which tend to overshadow his authoritarian behavior. Changes to the formula for apportioning seats hurt the FMLN most, and opposition parties petitioned to annul the elections due to systemic irregularities.
El Salvador “poses a challenge for US policymakers because Bukele’s successes, especially in fighting criminal gangs, and his popularity tend to overshadow his authoritarian behavior,” Ricardo Zúniga writes in our @LATAMProg newsletter. https://t.co/sqpolGexjm
🚨🚫El Salvador's elections board has rejected petitions from opposition parties to annul the crisis-ridden February 4th legislative elections, once more confirming the body's subordination to the partisan interests of the Bukele regime #EleccionesElSalvador2024 #Elecciones2024sv https://t.co/7aXvYVsot5
Jacobin just published an article titled ''Nayib Bukele Committed Blatant Election Fraud'' declaring that ''Bukele resorted to outright fraud'' their evidence boils down to the voting software crashing on election day, and ballots found with no creases https://t.co/napAW27ADk
➡️The contested Feb 4th elections produced a legislature disproportionately dominated by Bukele's party. Changes to the formula for apportioning seats hurt the FMLN most. Opposition parties petitioned to annul the elections due to systemic irregularities (FRAUD) #Elecciones2024Sv https://t.co/RMmuQZO0CT
My latest on the electoral crisis in El Salvador: “The official numbers aren’t trustworthy, but they reveal a substantial gap between the president’s popularity and that of his legislators” https://t.co/TJTOCIav61
El Salvador’s elections authority, still trying to deflect blame for the Feb 4 debacle, is withholding stipends for the vast majority of polling center workers who, through some combination of TSE malfeasance & incompetence, were unable to upload their results on election night. https://t.co/go97mggpbl
In case you haven’t had enough of #Bukele, and want to learn more about his relations w/ China, Bitcoin, social media & #ElSalvador’s military, here’s an interesting discussion @HudsonInstitute w/ @danielbatlle @bloggingsbyboz @ricardovalp & me. https://t.co/nTretQYIXj