Presidential elections were held in El Salvador in January 1895. General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez, who was serving as the country's provisional president during the election, ran unopposed and was elected with over 99 percent of the vote. Concurrent vice presidential elections were held, during which, Prudencio Alfaro defeated Carlos Meléndez and four minor candidates.

Campaign

Presidential elections were scheduled to be held in January 1895 following the Revolution of the 44 which overthrew President Carlos Ezeta and Vice President Antonio Ezeta in June 1894. General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez, who led the revolution and succeeded Carlos as provisional president, ran for president unopposed. Meanwhile, the vice presidential election was contested by Prudencio Alfaro and Carlos Meléndez, both of whom were also leaders of the 1894 revolution. Gutiérrez did not endorse either candidate and allowed them to compete for the vice presidency. General Estanislao Pérez, General Tomás Regalado, and two other minor candidates also participated in the vice presidential election. All men were eligible to vote in the election.

Gutiérrez, Alfaro, Meléndez, and Regalado were all liberals. However, none of the candidates are known to have run on ideological platforms or proper policy proposals. Meléndez's campaign was supported by the Nueva San Salvador-based newspaper La Verdad.

Results

In the presidential election, Gutiérrez received 61,080 votes with only 91 votes against. In the vice presidential election, Alfaro and Meléndez both sought to gain a competitive advantage over the other by ensuring that their allied municipal leaders would be in control of polling stations in the country's 248 municipalities. In 176 of the 248 municipalities, the winning candidate won with over 95 percent of the vote, due to the candidates seeking to install allies in charge of polling stations. Additionally, in 96 of the municipalities, the winning candidate won unanimously. Alfaro held an advantage in seven departments—Ahuachapán, La Paz, La Unión, Morazán, San Miguel, Sonsonate, and Usulután—while Meléndez held an advantage in two—Cabañas and San Vicente. Both candidates won by large margins in the departments where they held massive influence. Neither candidate had an outright advantage in the remaining five departments—Chalatenango, Cuscatlán, La Libertad, San Salvador, and Santa Ana—and the results across those departments were not as lopsided. Ultimately, Alfaro was elected vice president with 38,006 votes; Meléndez came in second place with 18,792 votes, and the other four candidates earned around 4,000 votes combined. Voter turnout was around 40%.

Historian Erik Ching described monopolizing voting at polling stations as "the golden rule of politics in El Salvador" and that the 1895 vice presidential election exemplified that. He also described Gutiérrez's role in the election as that of an "undisputed leader who kept electoral passions in check".

President

Vice president

Results by department

The following table displays the number of votes each candidate received from each of the country's 14 departments. The candidate with the most votes in a department is highlighted in . Results are not complete, and one candidate is not displayed.

Department Alfaro Meléndez Pérez Regalado Hurtado Votes Votes Votes Votes Votes Ahuachapán 3,647 167 Cabañas Chalatenango 4,278 2,759 Cuscatlán 2,635 2,634 La Libertad 1,001 2,752 472 La Paz 3,334 408 La Unión Morazán San Miguel San Salvador 4,543 2,696 Santa Ana 1,210 1,901 432 San Vicente 260 3,170 Sonsonate 3,645 188 590 177 Usulután 3,096 270 Total 38,006 18,792 ≈4,000 Source: Diario Oficial 1895, pp. 161–162

Aftermath Meléndez's supporters at La Verdad subsequently launched a public relations campaign, claiming in its pages that the elections had been fraudulent. Alfaro and Gutiérrez's supporters responded in the government newspaper Diario Oficial, accusing La Verdad of being a "clerical, Catholic paper" opposed to liberalism, and publishing results showing that multiple candidates received votes. They attributed Gutiérrez's unanimous victory to widespread public support for the revolution and the provisional government.

Gutiérrez and Alfaro both assumed office on 1 March 1895. In 1898, Regaldo overthrew the government due to Gutiérrez's plans to rig the upcoming presidential election to allow him to remain in office. Alfaro, Gutiérrez, and Meléndez all unsuccessfully ran for president in 1907, and that same year, Alfaro led a failed war against the Salvadoran government. In 1913, Meléndez finally became president, beginning a political dynasty that would rule the country for the next thirteen years.

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