Salvadorans living abroad began voting online this Saturday in a process that will culminate with the February 4 elections in which the president Nayib Bukelewho enjoys great popularity, aspires to a controversial re-election.
Some 741,000 Salvadorans abroad, especially in USAare empowered to vote through an online process, which was criticized by the human rights NGO WOLA considering that it lacks “clear regulations”.
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Bukele, authorized in November by Congress to be absent from his duties for six months to contest the elections, is popular for his offensive against gangs, but opponents question the legality of his candidacy.
The president of the TSE, Dora Esmeralda Martínezcalled to vote when inaugurating the “remote internet voting process” at midnight on Saturday. Many Salvadorans who live in American cities published on social networks that they have already cast their vote.
According to the law, Salvadorans abroad can cast their vote 30 days before the vote in The Saviorto which 6.2 million voters are called.
WOLA, a research and defense organization for human rights in America based in Washington, expressed on X (formerly Twitter) its concern about “the lack of transparency in the electoral process of El Salvador abroad”.
“In-person and remote electronic voting, as determined by the electoral Tribunal (TSE), will occur without electoral supervision or direct observation”, he commented.
Controversy over human rights and legality
WOLA added that the elections take place “in a context of serious violations of human rights, deterioration of the rule of law and challenges to the constitutional order” and urged the TSE “rigorously adhere to the country’s legal framework and international standards”.
The Constitutional court issued a controversial ruling that authorized Bukele to run for a second consecutive term, although the Salvadoran constitution did not allow re-election.
Seven out of 10 Salvadorans are “OK” with Bukele being a candidate for re-election, according to a survey by the Jesuit Universidad Centroamericana (UCA).
This popular support is due to the fact that his “war” against criminal gangs brought peace of mind to the population, but at the cost of a restriction of civil rights.
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Since March 2022, an emergency regime has been in force in the country that allows arrests without a court order, according to human rights groups.
Bukele’s party, New ideasaccording to the UCA survey, leads voting intentions, with 61.7%, while the leftist Farabundo Martí Front (FMLN) is in a distant second place with 2.6%, and the right-wing SAND third with 1.5%.
In the February elections, Congress will also be renewed, which will have 60 deputies instead of the current 84, due to a reform also promoted by Bukele.
