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OAS EOM in El Salvador Expresses Satisfaction on Order and Civic Spirit during Elections

The Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the Organization of American States (OAS), on the occasion of the second round of the presidential election of March 9, 2014, reiterates its satisfaction for the order and civic spirit demonstrated during the elections and presents its main preliminary conclusions.

The OAS/EOM, respectful of the legal and institutional framework of El Salvador, calls the Salvadoran political actors and institutions to preserve public order until the Supreme Electoral Tribunal concludes the procedure established by law, delivers and announces the final results and proclaims the election winner.

The Mission welcomes the increased citizen turnout on election day, which exceeded that of February 2. It also highlights the technical and logistical work carried out by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal through measures, such as residential voting, absentee voting, as well as the vote of police officers, which are an achievement though still requiring adjustments and corrections based on the experience of their implementation.

Furthermore, the OAS/EOM also highlights the efficient, speedy and transparent transmission of preliminary election results. At the end of the day, 100% of polling stations’ records had been processed, providing the public with digital copies of those records, which are freely available through the Web.

The Mission emphasizes the importance of proceeding promptly with the verification of the Voting Registry in order to most accurately reflect the list of voters entitled to exercise their right to vote. In this regard, the Mission deems it appropriate to ensure respect for electoral silence and to reduce the pressure of partisan campaigning in the vicinity of polling stations.

The OAS/EOM considers it essential to strengthen the implementation of the constitutional principle of the secret ballot, as an effective means to prevent practices, such as induction voting, intimidation, temporary retention of sole identity documents (DUIs), among others, that affects the free exercise of suffrage.

The OAS/EOM observed discrepancies between the branches of power and institutions of the Salvadoran state in the realm of electoral rules and the exercise of the judicial function in this area, which may eventually affect the exercise of competencies that the constitution and the law confer to the various powers. Indeed, it is the responsibility of Salvadoran institutions to prevent, in due time, the difficulties that may arise from these discrepancies in the future.


The Mission observers were present in 535 polling stations in all, which were visited throughout Election Day. To date, the OAS/EOM has received a total of 39 complaints, of which 13 are on partisan electoral campaigning, seven refer to issues related to DUIs, six to incitement and vote buying, and an additional six to the voters’ registry. As part of the Mission’s responsibilities, these complaints will be forwarded to the relevant authorities for due attention.
Over the next month, a verbal report on the work of the Mission will be presented to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States. Subsequently, the Mission will submit its final report for the information of the Salvadoran authorities.
The OAS/EOM thanks the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for the support it granted to OAS observers, which helped the Mission to carry out the tasks and fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to it.
Finally, the Mission is grateful for the financial contribution of the Governments of Bolivia, Chile, Spain, the United States, France, Israel, Italy, and Luxembourg, which allowed its deployment during the first and second rounds of the 2014 presidential election.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-087/14