333333 European Commission EL SALVADOR Election Observation Mission FINAL REPORT January – March 2018 This project is funded by the European Union EUROPEAN UNION ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION EL SALVADOR, Legislative and Municipal Elections, 4 March 2018 TaBle of Contents I. Executive Summary and Priority Recommendations...................................................................1 II. Introduction...............................................................................................................................4 III. Political Context .........................................................................................................................4 IV. Implementation of Previous EOM Recommendations ................................................................5 V. Legal Framework .......................................................................................................................6 A. International Principles and Commitments ........................................................................... 6 B. Constitutional Human Rights ................................................................................................ 7 C. Electoral Legislation .............................................................................................................. 7 D. Election System and Constituency Delimitation .................................................................... 8 VI. Election Administration..............................................................................................................9 A. Structure and Composition of the Election Administration .................................................... 9 B. Administration of the Elections ........................................................................................... 10 VII. Voter Registration .................................................................................................................... 11 A. The Right to Vote ................................................................................................................ 11 B. Voter Registration Procedures ............................................................................................ 11 VIII. Registration of Candidates and Political Parties ........................................................................ 12 A. Registration of Candidates .................................................................................................. 12 B. Registration of Political Parties ........................................................................................... 13 IX. The Election Campaign ............................................................................................................. 13 A. The Election Campaign ....................................................................................................... 13 B. Campaign Finance............................................................................................................... 15 C. Voter Education .................................................................................................................. 15 X. Domestic and International Election Observation .................................................................... 16 XI. Media and Elections ................................................................................................................. 16 A. Media Environment ............................................................................................................ 16 B. Legal Framework for the Media .......................................................................................... 18 C. Media Monitoring Findings and Campaign in the Media ..................................................... 19 D. TSE and the Media .............................................................................................................. 20 XII. Political Participation of Women .............................................................................................. 21 XIII. Political Participation of Persons with Disabilities ..................................................................... 22 XIV. Political Participation of the LGBTI Community ........................................................................ 22 XV. Political Participation of Indigenous Citizens ............................................................................ 23 XVI. Electoral Disputes .................................................................................................................... 24 A. Overview of Disputes .......................................................................................................... 24 B. Actions Taken by the Electoral Prosecutor’s Office .............................................................. 25 i EUROPEAN UNION ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION EL SALVADOR, Legislative and Municipal Elections, 4 March 2018 C. Petitions to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) ................... 25 XVII. Polling, Counting and Tabulation of Results.............................................................................. 26 A. Overview of Voting ............................................................................................................. 26 B. Counting ............................................................................................................................. 26 C. Transmission and Publication of Preliminary Results ........................................................... 27 D. Tabulation of Final Results .................................................................................................. 28 XVIII. Results and Post-Election Environment .................................................................................... 30 A. Publication of Results ......................................................................................................... 30 B. Complaints Relating to the Election Results ........................................................................ 30 C. Political Overview of the Election Results ............................................................................ 31 XIX. Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 34 XX. Annexes ................................................................................................................................... 44 ii EUROPEAN UNION ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION EL SALVADOR, Legislative and Municipal Elections, 4 March 2018 I. Executive Summary and Priority Recommendations The 4 March 2018 elections were the ninth legislative and municipal elections in El Salvador since the 1992 Chapultepec Peace Accords, which had put an end to the twelve-year-long civil war. They were also the second legislative elections under cross-voting, a list system permitting a voter to select names from more than one party list. The electoral landscape was dominated by the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), the two competing parties that have held the executive and legislative power in successive elections. The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), led by Carlos Iturgaiz, Member of the European Parliament from Spain, was deployed to the country between 27 January and 25 March in response to an invitation from the Government of El Salvador and the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE). Two key political stakes in these elections were whether one of the main parties would lose its veto power in the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa – AL) for qualified majority legislation and also the fact that the new AL would elect members of key state institutions, including the TSE, the Court of Audit, the Attorney General, the Human Rights Ombudsperson and four of the five members of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice for a nine-year term. The latter appointments are particularly relevant given the fundamental institutional and political changes triggered by the decisions of the current Constitutional Chamber. The legal framework provides a sufficient basis for the conduct of democratic and competitive elections and the Constitution safeguards fundamental human rights, which are protected jurisdictionally before the Supreme Court of Justice. Despite its broad investigative functions, the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office has no enforcement or penalty powers. In response to petitions seeking the protection of constitutional rights, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice pioneered electoral reforms and issued since 2013 some 10 rulings which impacted on the election system and conduct of polls. The de-politicisation of poll workers is one such reform, as is the suspension of public financing to political parties who fail to provide financial disclosure. Some Chamber decisions still require integration in the legal framework, such is the case for out-of-country voting for legislative and municipal elections planned for 2021 and transparency obligations for independent candidates. Some stakeholders consider the Chamber’s rulings contribute to democratic advancement, others feel the Chamber is overstepping its legal competencies and interfering with the electoral process. Despite abundant electoral reforms and the conformity to international standards and best practices, the EU EOM observed the persistence of several weaknesses in