At stake in this election:

• The office of President of El Salvador

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. The President is limited to one 5-year term.[i]

Election Notes:

• The last presidential election was held on March 15, 2009. The winner, Mauricio FUNES, became the first member of the FMLN elected President of El Salvador. Prior to the 2009 election, ARENA had held the presidency since 1989. The 2014 election will see two new electoral reforms in place. First, the Supreme Electoral Tribune (TSE) has changed the assignment of eligible voters to a system that factors in the distance they live from polling stations. Previously, voters were assigned to polling stations alphabetically, disregarding the distance a voter lived from a polling station. Furthermore, in 2013, the Salvadorian Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) passed a law allowing Salvadorans abroad to vote in all future elections. As a result, around 200,000 new voters will be able to cast ballots in the election.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Salvador SÁNCHEZ CERÉN*
  • Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front / Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN)
• Norman QUIJANO*
  • Nationalist Republican Alliance / Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA)
• Antonio “Tony” SACA
  • Grand Alliance for National Unity / Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (GANA or UNIDAD)
• Oscar LEMUS
  • Salvadoran Patriot Brotherhood / Fraternidad Patriota Salvadoreña (FPS)
• René RODRÍGUEZ Hurtado
  • Salvadoran Progressive Party / Partido Salvadoreña Progresista (PSP)

* Because no candidate received a majority of votes, a runoff will be held on 9 March between leading candidate Salvador SÁNCHEZ CERÉN and runner-up candidate Norman QUIJANO.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 6,107,706 (2014)
• Registered Voters: 4,955,107 (2013)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 3,237,740 (2014)

·         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: 916,155 (est.)