At stake in this election:

• 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez *
• Head of Government: President Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez
• Assembly: El Salvador has a unicameral Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) with 84 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) 84 members are elected by party-list system with proportional distribution of seats to serve 3-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Nationalist Republican Alliance / Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA)
  • Leader: Rodrigo AVILA
  • Seats won in this election: 32
  • Seats won in last election: 34
• Party: Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front / Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN)
  • Leader: Medardo GONZALEZ
  • Seats won in this election: 35
  • Seats won in last election: 32
• Party: National Conciliation Party / Partido de Conciliación Nacional (PCN)
  • Leader: Ciro CRUZ ZEPEDA
  • Seats won in this election: 11
  • Seats won in last election: 10
• Party: Christian Democratic Party / Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC)
  • Leader: Rodolfo PARKER
  • Seats won in this election: 5
  • Seats won in last election: 6
• Party: Democratic Change / Cambio Democrático (CD)
  • Leader: Hector DADA HIREZI
  • Seats won in this election: 1
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: Democratic Revolutionary Front / Frente Democrático Revolucionario (FDR)
  • Leader: Julio HERNANDEZ
  • Seats won in this election: 0
  • Seats won in last election: 0

Last Legislative election:

• The last legislative election was held in El Salvador on March 12, 2006. While the ruling ARENA party won the most seats in 2006, it did not win a majority in the legislature.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 6,021,368 (2009)
• Registered Voters: 4,226,479 (2009)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 3,170,420 (2009)

·         Is El Salvador a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (14 November 1980)

·         Has El Salvador ratified CEDAW: Yes (19 August 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 16 (following the 2009 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 116 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is El Salvador a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has El Salvador ratified CRPD: Yes (14 December 2007)

·         Population with a disability: 903,205 (est.)