[Cispes-update] Election Day Update! (1of4)

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This is the first of a four updates-in-brief about the Salvadoran
presidential elections of 15March2009 from CISPES.  CISPES is currently
receiving reports from independent election observers stationed throughout
El Salvador who are reporting back and helping us compile information on the
electoral process, reports of fraud, irregularities etc.  For more
information, and if you have not done so already, visit the CISPES blog,
which will be updated frequently throughout the day and into the evening.


Election Day unfolds with voter turnout; observers report various
irregularities


 The polls opened to the public at 7AM this morning and since then citizens
have been turning out to vote en masse.  By 9AM, 750 of the 4,700 registered
voters in Jutiapa, Cabañas, had already voted and many of the tables had
lines of 50 people or more. Both presidential candidates, Mauricio Funes of
the FMLN and Rodrigo Ávila of ARENA, voted at their respective centers this
morning. Most of the voting tables in the country opened on time and,
according to FMLN Magistrate on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal Eugenio
Chicas, “I am observing that there’s a climate of peace and civic
celebration that invites people to participate.” 

International Observers have reported various irregularities throughout the
morning. In the Estadio Flor Blanca Voting Center—where Salvadorans who
received ID cards (DUIs) in the US are voting—the room storing extra ballots
was found filled with water, in an apparent sabotage. The boxes of ballots
were stacked on the floor and all got wet. Many denouncements of foreigners
with DUIs have also been received. Throughout the department of San
Salvador, as well as in the interior of the country, busses were observed
transporting Nicaraguans and Hondurans to government buildings. Trucks of
mattresses then arrived, presumably in order to house the foreigners in
these buildings. In Tejutepeque, Cabañas, a bus arrived at the Voting Center
and citizens reported that Nicaraguans with DUIs were on the bus and
intending to vote. A group of observers responded and arrived at the bus to
take photos and ask questions. At this point, the bus left and the supposed
Nicaraguans did not vote.

 




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© 2008 CISPES - The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
CISPES National Office | ph. 202-521-2510 | 1525 Newton St. NW, Wash. DC
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