At stake in this election:

• 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Mauricio FUNES Cartagena
• Head of Government: President Mauricio FUNES Cartagena
• Assembly: El Salvador has a unicameral Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) with 84 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) 84 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 3-year terms.***

*** 64 seats are awarded through 14 multi-member constituencies (3 to 16 seats), each corresponding to the country's departments. The remaining 20 seats are awarded in one national constituency. starting in 2012, independent or non-party candidates will also be able to participate in legislative elections. Until 2009, electors could only cast a ballot for a single list. However, a 2011 Supreme Court ruling resulted in voters being allowed to choose one or more candidates in a single list, or one non-party candidate. Seats are distributed in each constituency according to a Hare quota. Renaming seats are are distributed according to the largest remainder method.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front / Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN)
  • Leader: Medardo GONZALEZ
  • Seats won in last election: 35
• Party: Nationalist Republican Alliance / Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA)
  • Leader: Alfredo CRISTIANI
  • Seats won in last election: 32
• Party: Grand Alliance for National Unity / Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (GANA)***
  • Leader: José Andrés ROVIRIA Canales
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: National Coalition
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last election: 11
• Party: Party of Hope
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last election: 5
• Party: Democratic Change
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: National Liberal Party
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: People's Party
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last election: 0

*** GANA was formed after the last election by defectors from ARENA.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 6,072,233 (2012)
• Registered Voters: 4,226,479 (January 2009)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 3,211,020 (2012)

·         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: 23 (following the 2012 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: 910,834 (est.)