| [With EMBs] Interview with Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador | ||||||||||
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| Last updated 2021-09-07 | ||||||||||
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Taking Safety Precautions and Maintaining the Election Processes (Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador) El Salvador had its legislative elections on 28 February 2021. The elections were carried out by taking safety measures while keeping the overall election process in place. The Secretariat had a short interview with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Supremo Electoral, TSE) of El Salvador and talked about the result of the elections, along with details about the day of election.
▶Question: Which election(s) were held in 2021 in El Salvador? ▶Answer: The legislative elections took place on 28 February 2021 in El Salvador: the elections were the 10th elections since the signing of the 1992 Peace Accords and the 13th since the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of 1983. 84 deputies were elected to the Legislative Assembly, 20 to the Central American Parliament, and 262 as the Plural Municipal Councils. 5,389,017 Salvadorans residing in the national territory were eligible to vote, of which 53.39% were women and 46.61% were men. 1,595 voting centers were installed nationwide in the presence of 1,839 domestic election observers and 524 international observers.
▶Question: How did COVID-19 change the election process and election management? ▶Answer: Regarding the electoral process, there was no change in the way of voting due to the pandemic. The only modification was that health and safety measures were adopted, and extra poll workers were deployed nationwide to each voting center to take appropriate measures, such as taking temperatures before voters entered the center and guiding social distancing, mandatory use of masks and hand sanitizers, etc.
The election process was as follows: 1. Electronic devices including computers, projectors and scanners, were distributed to the Departmental and Municipal Electoral Boards 3 days prior to the election. 2. On election day, each Vote Receiving Board was given an electoral package with materials for the election, such as the ballot papers, stamps and markers, and indelible ink, along with a safety package. The package was newly introduced in this election due to the pandemic, which included hand sanitizers, wet towels, masks, gloves, etc. 3. At the Voter Receiving Boards, the results that were already verified, signed and stamped by members of the Vote Receiving Boards were digitized and the images were sent to the National Center for Electoral Results Processing (CNPRE). a. Copies were printed and delivered to the parties and other institutions that monitor the process. b. Each Vote Receiving Board was provided the equipment to print, digitize and send the information to CNPRE; here the results are consolidated for dissemination. 4. At 5 pm, TSE reset the preliminary election results processing system to start collecting information from each Vote Receiving Board through the computer equipment: this ensures that the system records the results, based on the information of the three minutes generated in each of the 8,451 Vote Receiving Boards. a. The reset process was carried out in the presence of these institutions: 1) Political Parties 2) Electoral Surveillance Board 3) Attorney General's Office 4) Attorney General's Office for the Defense of Human Rights 5) Domestic and International Observers 5. After cleaning the database, the Vote Receiving Boards installed and used equipment for counting. ▶Question: Do you have any upcoming election(s) and plans on actions or future changes to election management you wish to share with A-WEB and Member EMBs?
The A-WEB Secretariat appreciates the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador for sharing the special measures they took under the pandemic situation. The Secretariat will continue to conduct these interviews so that A-WEB members may share what they have introduced to cope with the pandemic in the process of election management.
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