Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 4 February 2024. Voters elected the country's president and vice president to serve a five-year term. El Salvador used a two-round system, and if no candidate reached an absolute majority, a second round would have occurred on 3 March 2024. The presidential election occurred concurrently with legislative elections.

Thirteen political parties were registered with the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) making them eligible to participate in the election. Of those, only 7 parties ran candidates, of which 6 were on the ballot. Incumbent president Nayib Bukele ran for re-election with Nuevas Ideas. His candidacy was controversial as the country's constitution prohibited immediate re-election, but in September 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the incumbent president could run for immediate re-election. Various lawyers, journalists, and opposition politicians criticized Bukele's re-election bid as authoritarian and unconstitutional, while most Salvadorans remained highly supportive of his campaign. The other five candidates were Manuel Flores of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), Joel Sánchez of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), Luis Parada of Nuestro Tiempo, Javier Renderos of Solidary Force, Marina Murillo of the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity (FPS).

On election night, Bukele declared himself the winner of the election. The TSE encountered technical difficulties in the counting process and had to conduct a recount. A few days after election night, the TSE confirmed Bukele's victory. Its final results showed that Bukele won 84.65 percent of the popular vote in a landslide victory. Flores finished in second with 6.40 percent, Sánchez came in third with 5.57 percent, and the remaining candidates each received less than 5 percent. Bukele and Ulloa were inaugurated on 1 June. Bukele was the first president of El Salvador to be re-elected since Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez in 1944.

Political background

Presidency of Nayib Bukele

Nayib Bukele, a former mayor of San Salvador, won the 2019 Salvadoran presidential election with 53 percent of the vote. He ran under the banner of the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), making him the first president of El Salvador since José Napoleón Duarte (1984–1989) to not be a member of one of the country's two largest political parties: the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). Bukele's election broke the country's two-party system.

Throughout Bukele's presidency, his government was described as authoritarian and autocratic,Multiple sources:

resulting in what many journalists described as democratic backsliding.Multiple sources:

In February 2020, Bukele sent 40 soldiers into the Legislative Assembly to pressure lawmakers to approve a US$109 million loan to fund the Territorial Control Plan, a security program initiated by Bukele, in what critics described as an attempted coup d'état. In September 2020, the newspaper accused Bukele's government of negotiating with criminal gangs in the country, notably Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street gang, to lower crime rates. Bukele and his government denied those accusations. In the 2021 legislative election, Nuevas Ideas, the political party Bukele established, won supermajorities in the Legislative Assembly, municipalities, and the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN). The 13th session of the Legislative Assembly assumed office on 1 May 2021 and Bukele's allies voted to remove Attorney General Raúl Melara and five justices from the Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court of Justice. Bukele later appointed a new Attorney General and new justices in what has since been described as a self-coup.

Following a spike in murders in March 2022, Bukele's government began a gang crackdown, referred to as a state of exception and a war against gangs, which resulted in the reported arrests of over 75,163 alleged gang members by 11 January 2024 and 144 to 152 deaths in custody by 10 May 2023. The crackdown, which had since been extended several times, was accused of engaging in arbitrary arrests, torture, and human rights abuses by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Opposition politicians described the crackdown as a political and electoral strategy to support the government and intimidate the opposition.

Bukele remained extremely popular with approval ratings consistently hovering between 80 and 90percent. He was considered to be one of the most popular presidents in El Salvador's history as well as one of the most popular incumbent Latin American heads of state.

Presidential re-election controversy

On 3 September 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the president of El Salvador is eligible to run for re-election in consecutive terms, discarding a 2014 ruling that required presidents to wait ten years before running for re-election. The court interpreted the constitution's ban on re-election as only applying to the president and not the candidates. Additionally, article 156 of the constitution prohibited anyone holding the presidency in the six months prior to the next presidential term from holding the office in the next term. The court interpreted it as permitting the president to seek re-election if they resigned or obtained a leave of office before those six months. These rulings and interpretations made Bukele eligible to run for president in 2024. The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) accepted the Supreme Court of Justice's ruling despite criticism from ARENA and the FMLN as well as U.S. to El Salvador Jean Elizabeth Manes.

On 15 September 2022, Bukele announced his re-election campaign despite having previously voiced his opposition to immediate re-election both before and during his presidency. Bukele justified his re-election bid by arguing that most developed countries allow re-election. He also claimed that restrictions on re-election only exists in third-world countries. According to Bukele, a developed country criticizing his announcement would be hypocritical. On 25 June 2023, Bukele registered his pre-candidacy for the presidency with , and on 9 July, elected Bukele as its presidential candidate.

Bukele's announcement that he was running for re-election was criticized by constitutional lawyers who argued his re-election would be unconstitutional and violate at least four articles of El Salvador's constitution. Manuel Flores, then the FMLN's presidential pre-candidate, stated that "the law is the law [and] the law says that there is no re-election" (""), adding that the constitution is "clear" ("") in prohibiting re-election. Protest marches against Bukele's government and against his re-election bid were held in San Salvador on 1 May and 15 September 2023. Flores, Joel Sánchez, and Luis Parada (the presidential candidates of the FMLN, ARENA, and , respectively) participated in the latter protest march.

In October and November 2023, , ARENA, and various NGOs filed ten requests with the TSE calling for the body to not register Bukele's presidential candidacy or void his candidacy after he initiated the registration process. On 9 November, the TSE reaffirmed that Bukele's candidacy was legal and dismissed all the petitions to void his candidacy.

On 30 November, to abide by article 156 of the constitution, Bukele was granted a leave of absence by the Legislative Assembly. Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara, Bukele's private secretary, was named as the presidential designate. She assumed office the following day. Rodríguez was the first woman in Salvadoran history to hold presidential powers, although she never held the office of President.

Electoral system

Election procedure

A presidential election was held in El Salvador five years after the 2019 presidential election. The president and vice president were elected through a popular vote and El Salvador's constitution mandated that the election was "free, direct, equal and secret". The election was held 4 February 2024, concurrent with legislative elections. If a second round had been necessary, it would have occurred on 3 March. To win the election, a candidate needed an absolute majority (50%+1). If no candidate received an absolute majority, a second round between the two candidates with the most valid votes would have occurred within 30 days of the first round. Presidential and vice presidential candidates had to be at least 30 years old and be Salvadoran citizens by birth.

Electronic voting for Salvadoran expatriates began at midnight on 6 January 2024. Expatriates were able to vote at 81 voting centers in 60 of the country's embassies and consulates in 30 countries. Voting in El Salvador was held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. A total of 1,595 voting centers were available across the country. Voting was not compulsory. There were a total of 6,214,399 registered voters. Guillermo Wellman, a magistrate of the TSE, stated that individuals arrested during the country's gang crackdown were ineligible to vote.

Political parties

Political parties had to be registered with the TSE to be able to participate in 2024 presidential election. The following table shows the thirteen political parties that were eligible to register candidates with the TSE and whether or not they registered presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Party Leader Participated? PDC Christian Democratic Party Reinaldo Carballo CD Democratic Change Javier Milián FMLN Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front Óscar Ortiz GANA Grand Alliance for National Unity Nelson Guardado V Let's Go Cesia Rivas PCN National Coalition Party Manuel Rodríguez ARENA Nationalist Republican Alliance Carlos García Saade NI New Ideas Xavier Zablah Bukele NT Our Time Andy Failer DS Salvadoran Democracy Adolfo Salume Artiñano PAIS Salvadoran Independent Party Roy García FPS Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity Óscar Morales Lemus FS Solidary Force Rigoberto Soto Notes:

Candidates

Registered candidates

Six political parties had their 2024 presidential and vice presidential candidates registered by the TSE.

Party Candidate Running mate Date nominated Date registered Nuevas Ideas Nayib Bukele Félix Ulloa 9 July 2023 3 November 2023 NationalistRepublicanAlliance Joel Sánchez Hilcia Bonilla 16 July 2023 9 November 2023 Farabundo MartíNational LiberationFront Manuel Flores Werner Marroquín 16 July 2023 3 November 2023 Nuestro Tiempo Luis Parada 15 July 2023 9 November 2023 Solidary Force Javier Renderos Rafael Montalvo 24 July 2023 9 November 2023 SalvadoranPatrioticFraternity Marina Murillo Fausto Carranza 27 August 2023 9 November 2023

Rejected candidates

One party's presidential and vice presidential candidates were rejected by the TSE.

Party Candidate Running mate Date nominated Date rejected SalvadoranIndependentParty José Cardoza Irma Sosa 28 August 2023 4 October 2023

Withdrawn candidates

Gerardo Awad, 2019 ARENA presidential pre-candidate Jaime Zavaleta

Declined to be candidates

Claudia Ortiz, deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2021–present) Mario Vega, senior pastor of Misión Cristiana Elim Internacional (1997–present)

Electoral campaign

Nuevas Ideas

On 25 June 2023, Bukele and Ulloa registered their pre-candidacies with for President and Vice President, respectively. On 9 July, formalized Bukele and Ulloa's presidential and vice presidential campaigns. They ran unopposed in the party's primary election and won 44,398 votes. The TSE approved Bukele and Ulloa's candidacies on 3 November.