Salvadoran Parties Request Annulment of Legislative Elections

On Monday, opposition parties Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena), Our Time (NT), and Let’s Go submitted requests for the annulment of the legislative elections held on Feb. 4 to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE)

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"We come with a legal action regarding the abuses and abuses that we have coherently denounced throughout this time. We hope that the Court considers this action since its role has been quite weak," FMLN Deputy Secretary Karina Sosa said. 

“The TSE has not assumed the guiding role of the electoral process as it should. This is not only said by us but also by other political forces. Even the Organization of American States (OAS) issued a statement specifically pointing out the things they observed,” she added.

"Given that the TSE could not guarantee the process in a timely manner, we want guarantees that the next stage will happen in accordance with the law since the election of mayors and members of the Central American parliament is approaching," Sosa emphasized.

NT President Andy Failer submitted a request for annulment documenting 69 anomalies in the electoral process, each of which is supported by its respective evidence.

The Salvadoran Electoral Code establishes that annulment requests can be submitted 24 hours after the election has taken place. Opposition parties, however, argued they are in time to submit such requests because "the election concludes only after the end of the vote count."

On Sunday, the TSE concluded the controversial and unusual final vote count of the legislative elections, one week after it began and amidst multiple reports of irregularities.

On Tuesday, electoral authorities announced the results of the parliamentary elections, in which New Ideas, President Nayib Bukele's party, won 54 out of 60 legislators. This unprecedented result will allow him to govern without any parliamentary opposition.