2024 Salvadoran general election

Politics of El Salvador
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Executive President Nayib Bukele Vice President Félix Ulloa
Legislature Legislative Assembly President: Ernesto Castro
Administrative divisions Departments Municipalities
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General elections are scheduled to be held in El Salvador in 2024, five years after the 2019 presidential election and three years after the 2021 legislative election.[3][4] The president, vice president, 84 deputies of the Legislative Assembly, 20 deputies of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), and 262 mayors of the country's municipalities will be elected through a popular vote. The constitution of El Salvador mandates that the election will be "free, direct, equal and secret".[5] On 11 August 2022, the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) announced that the elections for the presidency, vice presidency, and the Legislative Assembly will be held on Sunday, 4 February 2024, and that the elections for the 262 municipalities and the Central American Parliament will be held on Sunday, 3 March 2024.[6]

In the presidential election, a candidate needs an absolute majority (50% + 1) to be declared the winner of the election. If no candidate receives an absolute majority, a second round between the two candidates with the most valid votes will occur within thirty days of the first round. Mayors, deputies of the Legislative Assembly, and deputies of the Central American Parliament are elected by open-list proportional representation. The 262 mayors are elected in one constituency each, the 84 deputies of the Legislative Assembly are elected in 14 constituencies for the 14 departments of El Salvador, and the 20 deputies of the Central American Parliament are elected from one nationwide constituency.[5][7]

Presidential and vice presidential candidates must be at least 30 years old, legislative candidates must be at least 25 years old, and municipal candidates must be at least 21 years old. All candidates must be Salvadoran citizens by birth.[8] Per article 38 of the Law of Political Parties, at least 30 percent of a party's total candidates for the legislative, municipal, and PARLACEN elections must be women.[9]

The locations of voting centers will be finalized by the Supreme Electoral Court by 6 March 2023.[10] Electronic voting is scheduled to begin in January 2024.[11]

In December 2022, TSE magistrate Noel Orellana estimated that it would cost between US$25 and 30 million to finance the expatriate vote for the 2024 election,[12] but later revised the estimate to US$120 million.[13] In February 2023, the TSE announced that the expatriate vote would cost US$70.6 million and the national election would cost US$89 million, for a total cost of US$159.7 million for the 2024 election.[14] In March 2023, the TSE reduced its estimate to US$129.3 million and formally requested that amount from the Legislative Assembly.[15] The Legislative Assembly approved the TSE's request on 15 March 2023,[16] making the 2024 election the most expensive election in Salvadoran history.[17]

Political parties must be registered with the Supreme Electoral Court to be able to participate in the elections. The TSE mandated that the parties announce their internal party leadership elections and 2024 primary elections by 5 March 2023,[18] and that they must hold them by 5 July 2023.[19] Thirteen political parties are eligible to participate, an increase of three from 2021. The thirteen political parties are:[20]

Party				Ideology	Political position	2021 results
						Legislative	Municipal	PARLACEN
		PDC	Christian Democratic Party Partido Demócrata Cristiano	Christian democracy	Center	1 / 84	3 / 262	0 / 20
		CD	Democratic Change Cambio Democrático	Social democracy	Center-left	Did not run
		FMLN	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional	Socialism	Left-wing	4 / 84	30 / 262	1 / 20
		GANA	Grand Alliance for National Unity Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional	Social conservatism	Center-right	5 / 84	27 / 262	1 / 20
		V	Let's Go Vamos	Christian democracy	Center	1 / 84	1 / 262	Did not run
		PCN	National Coalition Party Partido de Concertación Nacional	Conservatism	Center-right	2 / 84	14 / 262	1 / 20
		ARENA	Nationalist Republican Alliance Alianza Republicana Nacionalista	Conservatism	Right-wing	14 / 84	35 / 262	3 / 20
		NI	New Ideas Nuevas Ideas	Populism	Center-right	56 / 84	152 / 262	14 / 20
		NT	Our Time Nuestro Tiempo	Progressivism	Center-left	1 / 84	0 / 262	Did not run
		DS	Salvadoran Democracy Democracia Salvadoreña	Progressivism	Center	Did not run
		PAIS	Salvadoran Independent Party Partido Independiente Salvadoreño	Populism	Center	New party
		FPS	Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity Fraternidad Patriota Salvadoreña	Nationalism	Right-wing	Did not run
		FS	Solidarity Force Fuerza Solidaria	Conservatism	Right-wing	New party

Additionally, various political movements—Citizen Power (PC), the Authentic Republican Movement (MAR), the Authentic Salvadoran Movement (MAS) We Shall Construct a New El Salvador (CUNES), the Salvadoran Veteran Party (PVS), Somos, and i—attempted to register with the TSE to gain political party status and to run in the 2024 election.[21][22][23][24] MAS abandoned its efforts to register in early-April 2023.[25] In late-2022, Paul Monroy, the leader of i, announced the movement abandoned its efforts to register with the TSE.[26]

Salvadoran citizens over the age of 18 living in El Salvador have until 7 August 2023 to register to vote, while those living outside of the country have until 5 November 2023 to register.[27] Salvadorans in the country had until 3 April 2023 to change their address of residency on their Unique Identity Document (DUI; the primary identity document for Salvadorans), while those living abroad have until 5 November 2023.[28] On 1 March 2023, Guillermo Wellman, a magistrate of the Supreme Electoral Court, stated that individuals arrested during the country's 2022–23 gang crackdown were ineligible to vote.[29] According to a poll conduced by La Prensa Gráfica in February 2023, around 68 percent of Salvadorans stated that they definitely intended to vote in the 2024 election.[30] In the legislative election, votes cast from outside of the country will be counted towards selecting deputies in the department of San Salvador.[31]

The following table lists the number of registered voters for the 2024 election in all fourteen departments and outside of the country, as well as the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly and number of municipalities assigned to each department. The figures, as published by the Supreme Electoral Court, are accurate as of 12 May 2023.[32]

A labeled map of the fourteen departments of El Salvador.

Nayib Bukele speaking on 1 June 2019, the day of his inauguration.

Nayib Bukele, the former mayor of San Salvador, won the 2019 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 since José Napoleón Duarte (1984–1989) to not be a member of one of the country's two largest political parties: the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).[34][35][36] Bukele's election is considered to be one of the most impactful events in Salvadoran political history, as many politicians and journalists have described it as breaking the country's two-party system.[36][37][38]

Throughout his presidency, Bukele's critics have called his governance authoritarian and autocratic,[39] resulting in what many have described as democratic backsliding.[40] His COVID-19 lockdowns were criticized when more than 4,200 people were arrested by the National Civil Police (PNC).[41] In February 2020, he was criticized for sending 40 soldiers into the Legislative Assembly in what critics called an attempted coup d'état.[42] In September 2020, El Faro accused Bukele of negotiating with criminal gangs in the country, notably MS-13 and 18th Street, to lower crime rates. Bukele and his government have denied those accusations.[43][44] The United States government has labeled various Bukele government officials as corrupt.[45]

In the 2021 legislative election, Nuevas Ideas, the political party Bukele established, won supermajorities[4][46] in the legislature, municipalities, and the Central American Parliament.[47][48][49] The 13th session of the Legislative Assembly assumed office on 1 May 2022, and Ernesto Castro was elected as the president of the Legislative Assembly.[50] Following Castro's election, the 64 deputies representing Nuevas Ideas, GANA, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), and the National Coalition Party (PCN) voted to remove five Supreme Court justices from the constitutional court, including President Óscar Armando Pineda Navas, and Attorney General Raúl Melara. New justices and a new attorney general were later appointed by Bukele in what has since been described as a self-coup.[51]

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 has resulted in the reported arrests of 68,579 alleged gang members as of 12 May 2023 and 144 to 152 deaths in custody as of 10 May 2023.[52] The crackdown has been accused of engaging in arbitrary arrests, torture, and human rights abuses by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.[53][54] On 3 January 2023, Minister of Defense René Merino Monroy announced that 496 homicides were registered in 2022, a decrease from 1,147 homicides in 2021; Merino attributed the decrease to the gang crackdown.[55] Politicians from ARENA, the FMLN, and Nuestro Tiempo (NT) have described the crackdown as a political and electoral strategy to support the government and intimidate the opposition.[56]

Despite controversies and negative press coverage, Bukele remains extremely popular with approval ratings consistently hovering between 80 and 90 percent.[37][57][58] He is considered to be one the most popular presidents in El Salvador's history,[59] as well as one of the most popular current Latin American leaders.[60]

On 3 September 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the president of El Salvador is eligible to run for re-election consecutively, discarding a 2014 ruling that required presidents to wait ten years before running for re-election.[61][62] The 2021 court ruling made Bukele eligible to run for president in 2024.[61][63] Despite protests from ARENA and the FMLN, the Supreme Electoral Court accepted the Supreme Court's ruling.[62] The United States embassy to El Salvador was critical of the Supreme Court's ruling, stating that it "undermines democracy",[64] and Chargé d'Affaires Jean Elizabeth Manes compared the path the Salvadoran government was taking to that of Venezuela under Hugo Chávez.[65] On 1 March 2023, four of the five members of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Chamber confirmed that presidential re-election is allowed.[66]

External video
Bukele's speech celebrating 201 years of independence, where he announced he is running for re-election in 2024 (at 34:00)

During a speech on the country's 201st anniversary of independence from Spain on 15 September 2022, Bukele officially announced his re-election campaign.[68] Bukele justified his re-election bid by arguing that most developed countries allow re-election; he read a list of 39 countries considered to be developed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and stated that all the countries on the list except for South Korea allowed re-election.[69] He also claimed that restrictions on re-election only exists in Third World countries.[70] According to Bukele, a developed country criticizing his announcement would be hypocritical.[69]

Bukele's announcement was criticized by constitutional lawyers, who said his re-election would be unconstitutional and in violation of at least four articles of El Salvador's constitution.[68][71] Four former Latin American presidents—Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón (Mexico), Óscar Arias (Costa Rica), and Mauricio Macri (Argentina)—criticized Bukele's announcement, stating it violated articles 16, 132, and 152 of the country's constitution.[72] Bukele has been compared to Juan Orlando Hernández in Honduras and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, who used the Supreme Court and constitutional reforms, respectively, in their own countries to allow themselves to run for re-election.[73] Carlos Araujo, a former 2021 ARENA deputy candidate, stated that there is "no doubt that President Bukele will be re-elected" ("No hay duda que el Presidente Bukele va a ser reelecto"), citing his high approval rating.[74]

Vice President Félix Ulloa, who supports Bukele's re-election bid, suggested that Bukele should seek a license or express permission from the Supreme Court six months before the election.[75][76] In April 2023, Ulloa stated that immediate re-election is prohibited by the constitution, while a "second mandate" ("segundo mandato") is not, clarifying that Bukele isn't seeking re-election, but is instead seeking a second mandate.[77] Some politicians, including Ulloa, have also suggested that Bukele should resign six months before the election to be able to legally pursue re-election, but according to constitutional lawyer Enrique Anaya, resignation would remove Bukele's legal immunity and allow him to be prosecuted for alleged corruption and human rights violations,[78] while other constitutional lawyers state that his re-election campaign would be unconstitutional regardless.[79]

In mid-April 2023, seven leftist organizations announced that they would hold a protest against immediate re-election and the gang crackdown on 1 May 2023 in San Salvador in commemoration of International Workers' Day.[80] Rodrigo Cerritos, a member of the FMLN's national council, confirmed that the FMLN would participate in the 1 May 2023 protest and asked the National Civil Police to not block or prevent the protest.[81] The protest gathered at 8 a.m. at the Cuscatlán Park and traveled for three hours to the Gerardo Barrios Plaza. Protestors demanded an increase in minimum wage from US$365 to US$500, the respect of syndical liberties, the respect of the constitution, and opposed the capture of innocent people in the gang crackdown and presidential re-election. In total, 34 organizations and the FMLN and Nuestro Tiempo political parties participated in the protest.[82][83][84]

If Bukele wins re-election, he would be the first person since Óscar Osorio Hernández (1950–1956) to serve over five years as president of El Salvador, and the first person since Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (1931–1934, 1935–1944) to serve multiple terms as president.[73][85] Additionally, he is the first president since Antonio Saca (2004–2009) to seek re-election.[lower-alpha 3][87] According to a poll conducted by Francisco Gavidia University in October 2022, 76 percent of respondents believed that if Bukele were re-elected in 2024, he would run for a third term in 2029.[88]

In August 2022, Bukele criticized the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) execution of a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago as hypocritical. He tweeted, "What would the US Government say, if OUR police raided the house of one of the main possible contenders of OUR 2024 presidential election?"[89][90][91] Following Trump's indictment in March 2023 regarding a 2018 political scandal, Bukele made two tweets stating "imagine if this happened to a leading opposition presidential candidate here in El Salvador" and "sadly, it'll be very hard for US Foreign Policy to use arguments such as 'democracy' and 'free and fair elections', or try to condemn 'political persecution' in other countries, from now on".[92][93]

On 18 January 2023, the Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to increase the criminal penalty for electoral fraud to 15–20 years in prison, higher than the previous penalty of 4–6 years. Additionally, if the individual was a gang member, the penalty was increased further to 20–30 years imprisonment.[94] On 16 February 2023, the Legislative Assembly passed a law making it illegal to impede the registration process for electoral candidates. According to the updated penal code, impeding a candidate's registration process is legally considered electoral fraud and will result in 6–20 years imprisonment.[95] Lawyers and electoral experts alleged that the updated law would be used against those who opposed Bukele's re-election campaign; Eduardo Escobar and Ruth Eleonora López, the chief of Cristosal's anti-corruption committee, claimed that it was intimidation and a threat.[96]

In addition to the Unique Identity Document, TSE magistrates Julio Olivo and Dora Martínez de Barahona have suggested using biometrics, specifically fingerprinting, to ensure election security.[97][98] The Office for the Defense of Human Rights, a Salvadoran governmental agency, will be an observer for the 2024 elections.[99] In March 2023, Votante, an voter's initiative created by five Salvadoran civil society organizations, petitioned the TSE to allow the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the European Union to monitor the elections.[100][101][102] On 26 March 2023, the TSE began the process of accepting international observers to monitor the election; they expect over 3,500 observers to be involved.[103]

On 18 October 2022, the Legislative Assembly passed the Special Law for the Exercise of Suffrage Abroad, which allowed Salvadorans living outside of the country to vote electronically in the presidential and legislative elections, but not the municipal or PARLACEN elections.[33][104] The Supreme Electoral Court announced on 17 November 2022 that it would guarantee the right of Salvadorans abroad to vote in the 2024 election.[105][106] According to the TSE, as of 12 May 2023, 647,698 Salvadoran expatriates are eligible to vote in 2024.[32]

FMLN politician Rubén Zamora criticized the law, claiming that it was a "farce" ("farsa") and would lead to voter fraud in the 2024 election.[107] Ex-ARENA deputy Carlos Reyes, Vamos (V) deputy Claudia Ortiz, and Nuestro Tiempo deputy John Wright also claimed that the law would allow the possibility of electoral fraud.[108] Eduardo Escobar, the executive president of Citizen Action, claimed that electronic voting would allow a high risk of manipulation.[109]

In a November 2022 interview on Channel 21, Legislative Assembly president Ernesto Castro rejected the notion that fraud would occur in the expatriate voting process. He said, "the opposition has started to say that there will be fraud, but we don't need to do that because we beat them when they were in control of everything" ("La oposición ha comenzado a decir que habrá fraude, pero nosotros no necesitamos hacer eso porque les ganamos cuando ellos tenían el dominio de todo").[110]

A map of the country's municipalities.

On 30 December 2022, Bukele tweeted that he believes the country's 262 municipalities should be reduced to only 50, claiming that it was "absurd that 21,000 km² are divided into 262 municipalities".[111] Claudia Ortiz stated that the reduction could be discussed after the country's 2023 census. Other opposition deputies claimed that the reduction of municipalities could lead to data being manipulated in favor of the government.[112]

Meanwhile, various economists and lawyers claimed that the proposed reduction was an attempt by Bukele to consolidate his power through gerrymandering. Ruth Eleonora López stated that Bukele's proposal "leads to another twist in the concentration of power and centralization of decisions" ("lleva a otra vuelta de tuerca de la concentración de poder y la centralización de decisiones").[113] Eduardo Escobar claimed that the goal was to favor Nuevas Ideas by eliminating votes for opposition candidates, stating that it is "an artificial manipulation of electoral constituencies in order to generate an advantage" ("una manipulación artificial de las circunscripciones electorales a efecto de generar una ventaja").[114][115] Eugenio Chicas, an ex-magistrate of the Supreme Electoral Court, denounced the idea, saying:

Esa es su visión política, su principal instrumento político, incluso, no es tan siquiera su partido Nuevas Ideas o GANA. No, el principal instrumento de dominación política que está utilizando es la Fuerza Armada, es la militarización de la sociedad. Eso aclara la idea que se ha venido denunciando, que es dictadura en proceso de consolidación y una dictadura militar.

That is [Bukele's] political vision, his main political instrument is not even his party Nuevas Ideas or GANA. No, the main instrument of political domination that he is using is the Armed Forces, it is the militarization of society. This clarifies the idea that has been expressed, which is a dictatorship in the process of being consolidated into a military dictatorship.[113][116]

Mario Durán, the mayor of San Salvador, supported Bukele's proposal to reduce the number of municipalities.[117] GANA deputy Guillermo Gallegos also expressed his support, adding that he believed the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly should also be reduced. Gallegos said, "If re-election is possible, we can make all these changes" ("Si se puede la reelección, podemos hacer todos estos cambios").[118] Vice President Félix Ulloa supported reducing the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly, suggesting decreasing it from 84 to 50.[119] In March 2023, Nuevas Ideas deputy Christian Guevara stated that the reduction of municipalities was "very probably" ("muy probable"), adding that he also supported reducing the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly and in PARLACEN.[120]

On 20 February 2023, Ernesto Castro confirmed that Nuevas Ideas was officially evaluating a proposal to reduce the number of deputies in the Legislative Assembly from 84 to 64, and the number of municipalities from 252 to 50.[121] Castro stated that the country could function with 64 deputies, and that they propose a reduction to about 50 municipalities.[122][123] The Legislative Assembly has had 84 seats since the 1991 legislative election, when 24 seats were added to the legislature.[124] GANA deputy Numan Salgado supported the proposal and claimed that the country's population would support the reduction in deputies and municipalities.[121]

Nuestro Tiempo deputy John Wright described the proposal as "extremely irresponsible" ("extremadamente irresponsable") for occurring within one year of the election.[125] Claudia Ortiz criticized the announcement, stating the proposed reforms could help Nuevas Ideas form a one-party system. She also argued that the time to make electoral reforms had passed and that the changes would be in violation of the electoral code,[121] referring to Article 291-A, which prohibits electoral reforms up to one year before an election.[126][127] The Legislative Assembly voted to repeal Article 291-A on 15 March 2023.[128] Regarding the article's repeal, ARENA deputy René Portillo Cuadra described it as unconstitutional.[129] The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a United States non-governmental organization, stated it was "the latest backstep in the country" and that it "opens the door to a myriad of changes in the electoral process". It called for the EU and the Organization of American States (OAS) to "pay close attention" to the election and its process.[130]

According to a poll conducted by Francisco Gavidia University in February 2023, around 48.5 percent of Salvadorans erroneously believed that El Salvador was already divided into only 50 municipalities.[131] According to a poll conducted by Fundaungo in March 2023, 48.8 percent of Salvadorans supported reducing the number of municipalities, while 44.2 opposed it. Meanwhile, 80.2 percent supported reducing the number of legislative seats, while only 16.4 opposed it.[132]

As of May 2023, only one candidate has officially declared his intent to run for president.

Party		Candidate		Background	Date declared	Ref.
	Nuevas Ideas Nuevas Ideas	Nayib Bukele	Nayib Bukele	43rd President of El Salvador (2019–present) Mayor of San Salvador (2015–2018) Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán (2012–2015)	15 September 2022	[133]

• Manuel Flores, mayor of Quezaltepeque (2003–2012), deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2012–2015)[134]
• Jaime Zavaleta[135]

• Gerardo Awad, 2019 ARENA presidential pre-candidate[136][137]
• Roy García, General-Secretary of PAIS (2022–present)[138]

• Claudia Ortiz, deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2021–present)[139]
• Mario Vega, senior pastor of Misión Cristiana Elim Internacional (1997–present)[140]

Three deputies of the Legislative Assembly have announced that they will not be running for re-election in 2024.

This article is part of a series about Nayib Bukele
Political offices Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán (2012–2015) Mayor of San Salvador (2015–2018) President of El Salvador (2019–present) Presidency Incumbent – Cabinet Political crises 2020 2021 COVID-19 pandemic Bitcoin law Gang crackdown CECOT Opinion polling International trips Elections 2019 2024 Media gallery

Ernesto Castro has stated that Nuevas Ideas aims to win 70 seats in the Legislative Assembly and that the party does not intend to join a coalition with any other party.[8][149] Estuardo Rodríguez, a Nuevas Ideas deputy in the Legislative Assembly, stated that the party expects to win all 24 legislative seats from the department of San Salvador.[8] On 20 February 2023, in an interview with Telecorporación Salvadoreña's Frente a Frente, Castro announced that he was seeking re-election as a deputy, as were the majority of Nuevas Ideas deputies.[150][149] Mario Durán confirmed in June 2022 that he was running for re-election as mayor of San Salvador.[151]

Nuevas Ideas deputies have held events in the United States to meet Salvadoran expatriates and support Bukele's re-election campaign. Eduardo Escobar of Citizen Action claimed the events were illegal according to the constitution's rules about the promotion of candidates.[152] As of 22 April 2023, Nuevas Ideas has held four such events.

On 26 March 2023, women of Nuevas Ideas, led by Cristy Gómez, the party's national secretary of women, announced the launch of "Operation 2024" to rally support for Bukele's re-election.[157] Party president Xavier Zablah, a cousin of Bukele, was present at the announcement and expressed his support for the operation, adding that "nothing, nor anyone, will be able to stop the transformation of El Salvador" (Nada, ni nadie, podrá detener la transformación de El Salvador).[158]

The party will hold its primary elections on 2 July 2023.[159]

In March 2022, political analyst Walter Araujo believed that ARENA, the FMLN, and Vamos would form a coalition to challenge Nuevas Ideas in the presidential election.[160] On 26 October 2022, Carlos García Saade, the president of ARENA, announced that the party would not join an alliance with the FMLN to defeat Bukele in the 2024 election. He stated that joining forces with the FMLN would "deteriorate both parties" ("deteriorar a ambos partidos"), and that he wanted ARENA to be the alternative for Salvadorans who oppose Bukele.[161] Although he ruled out a coalition with the FMLN, he was still open to forming a coalition or an alliance with other parties.[162][163] At an event inaugurating the party's elected leadership on 26 March 2023, García Saade stated:

Estamos buscando primero aliarnos, tenemos que unirnos con todos los salvadoreños, a tu pregunta de si teníamos ya candidatos a la presidencia y vicepresidencia, primero nos tenemos que unir antes de buscar a quien nos lidere de cara al 2024, no solo como partido ARENA, sino que como oposición, como una alternativa a El Salvador, algo que muchos salvadoreños ya no quieren seguir viviendo, estamos primero viendo como podemos unirnos antes de buscar estos perfiles.

We are first seeking to ally ourselves, we have to unite with all Salvadorans, to your question whether we already had candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency, first we have to unite before looking for someone to lead us towards 2024, not only as the ARENA party, but as an opposition, as an alternative for El Salvador, something that many Salvadorans no longer want to live, we are first looking at how we can unite before looking for these profiles.[164]

In December 2022, García Saade stated that ARENA sought to attain the "maximum number" ("la máxima candidad") of deputies and mayors,[8] adding in May 2023 that the party sought to win more than 25 seats in the Legislative Assembly and more than 125 municipalities.[165] In mid-April 2023, García Saade confirmed that the party will participate in the presidential election.[166]

The party was scheduled to hold its internal party leadership elections on 19 February 2023,[167] but they were postponed to 26 February 2023 after the party's leadership stated there were problems in the electronic voting system. García Saade stated that ARENA would opt to vote with physical ballots rather than electronic ballots as a result;[168] García Saade was re-elected as the party's president with 2,392 votes.[169] ARENA's primary elections were originally scheduled to occur on 18 June 2023,[170][171] but were later moved to 2 July 2023.[172] The registration period for primary candidates ended on 15 May 2023; García Saade stated that the names of presidential pre-candidates will not be disclosed for their safety, claiming that they were threatened by persons in government and by governmental institutions.[173] According to ARENA's National Executive Council (COENA), the party has candidates for all five types of elections as well as having exactly 84 candidates for the Legislative Assembly.[174]

In September 2022, FMLN deputy Jaime Guevara stated that the FMLN has not resigned from its participation in the 2024 elections.[175] Following the conclusion of the FMLN's 42nd Ordinary National Convention on 11 December 2022, Óscar Ortiz, the secretary-general of the FMLN, announced that the party would not join any coalition in the 2024 elections with Nuevas Ideas, or ARENA, or GANA, but the party would be open to forming coalitions with other parties.[176][177] He said, "The FMLN is not only alive, but is paving the way for a new journey" ("El FMLN no solo está vivo sino que abre el espacio para una nueva jornada").[178]

The party plans to hold its primary elections on 11 June 2023.[179] Ortiz has confirmed that the FMLN will select presidential and vice presidential candidates.[180] In April 2023, Manuel Flores, an aspiring FMLN presidential candidate, asked the party to not select politicians with a "corrupt past" ("pasado corrupto") during the primary elections.[181] The FMLN is open to forming a presidential coalition with Vamos, Nuestro Tiempo, and the Salvadoran Independent Party (PAIS).[182]

Guillermo Gallegos, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly from GANA, stated that the party seeks to increase the amount of seats it has in the Legislative Assembly from five to fifteen. He also stated the party seeks to increase its number of mayors from 34 to over 100.[8] In July 2022, Gallegos confirmed that the party would endorse Bukele's re-election campaign if he ran under the banner of another party instead of GANA.[183] Additionally, Gallegos is seeking re-election to the Legislative Assembly.[184]

The party will hold its primary elections on 2 July 2023.[185]

According to Manuel Rodríguez, the leader of the National Coalition Party, around 260 people would be running for office within the party.[11] Rodríguez stated that the party seeks to increase the number of deputies in the Legislative Assembly from 3 to 9 and increase the number of mayors from 2 to 33.[186]

The party will hold its primary elections on 5 July 2023.[187] The party has not confirmed if it will or will not participate in the presidential election.[180]

The Christian Democratic Party will hold its primary elections on 5 July 2023.[185] The party has not confirmed if it will or will not participate in the presidential election.[180]

After John Wright announced his intention to not run for re-election as a deputy in 2024, four members of the party—Héctor Silva, Erick Iván Ortiz, Andy Failer, and Jeovanny Maravilla—expressed their interest in being elected in Wright's place.[188]

Nuestro Tiempo held its internal elections on 12 March 2023; president Juan Valiente announced his retirement prior to the election and was succeeded by Failer.[189] Its primary elections for president and vice president will be held on 25 June 2023 and its primary elections for deputies and mayors will be on 2 July 2023.[190] The party will not participate in the PARLACEN elections.[191] Failer has indicated that the party is open to forming alliances with other parties,[164] and has confirmed that the party will select presidential and vice presidential candidates.[180] On 13 April 2023, during an interview on Channel 21, Failer confirmed that the party would not form a coalition with ARENA or the FMLN but was still considering a coalition with Vamos.[192]

In March 2023, Claudia Ortiz announced her intention to be re-elected as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly and that she would not seek a presidential candidacy.[193] On 5 March 2023, Vamos formally announced that it will not run a presidential candidate or compete in the PARLACEN elections.[194] Initially, Ortiz stated that the party was open to forming a coalition with other parties,[164] but later stated that the party would not seek any political coalition.[193]

The party will hold its primary elections on 18 June 2023.[194] According to Sofía Vaquerano, the party's legal secretary, Vamos will not form coalitions with individuals who have been accused of being corrupt.[195]

Roy García, the secretary general of the Salvadoran Independent Party, stated that the party sought to win between 20 and 25 deputies in the Legislative Assembly and between 90 and 100 mayors.[8] The party will hold its internal elections on 9 April 2023,[196] but García has claimed that the party will not hold elections and instead participate as a social movement in a coalition with another party; the party is seeking to ally with opposition political parties such as ARENA, the FMLN, Vamos, Nuestro Tiempo, or the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity.[197][198] Contrarily, Samuel Tejada, the party's affiliation secretary, stated that the party will select presidential and vice presidential candidates.[180]

Solidarity Force announced it will hold its primary elections on 2 July 2023; the announcement was made on 5 March 2023, when it was not officially registered with the TSE as a political party.[199] On 31 March 2023, the TSE officially allowed the party to participate in the elections.[200] Some deputies from ARENA, the FMLN, Nuestro Tiempo, and Vamos criticized the TSE for allowing the Solidarity Force to register, describing the process as favoritism and illegal.[201][202]

Rigoberto Soto, the party's leader, has confirmed that the party will compete in the legislative and municipal elections; for the presidential election, he stated the party was still considering if it would participate or if it would endorse Bukele's re-election.[180] The party announced its elections again on 7 April 2023, as its original announcement was considered to be invalid by the TSE.[203]

The Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity announced its primary elections on 3 March 2023.[204] The party has not confirmed if it will or will not participate in the presidential election.[180]

Democratic Change will hold its primary elections on 4 June 2023. The party will not participate in the presidential election.[205]

Salvadoran Democracy will hold its primary elections on 7 May 2023.[206]

Citizen Power announced its primary elections in March 2023, but the TSE disregarded the announcement as invalid as they were not registered to participate in the 2024 election.[207] In mid-April 2023, the party turned in 50,000 signatures to the TSE to be registered as a political party.[208]

Registration of independent candidates began on 5 May 2023.[209]

According to polling conducted CIESCA and TResearch shortly after Bukele's announcement of re-election campaign, a large majority of Salvadorans support Bukele's re-election bid.[214][215] Additionally, many Salvadoran Americans strongly support Bukele's re-election.[216]

The following table lists the results of opinion polls regarding Bukele's re-election, with the option with the highest percentage listed in bold and displayed with its background shaded, and the lead column shows the difference between the "would support" and the "would not support" options. The following graph visualizes local regression of the table's results.