El Salvador

El Salvador is a sovereign state. The government is republican, democratic, and representative (Art. 85, Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador).

El Salvador is divided into 14 departments, geographically grouped into three zones: Eastern, Central, and Western. Departments are subdivided into 44 municipalities, which enjoy limited economic, technical, and administrative autonomy. Each municipality has a head town called pueblo, villa, or ciudad. Within the municipality’s jurisdiction are cantons, composed of hamlets. The current political-administrative division was restructured in 2024 following the approval of the Special Law for Municipal Restructuring (Decree No. 762) in 2023.

The Legislative Assembly is a collegial body composed of deputies. It is unicameral and currently made up of 60 principal deputies (and an equal number of alternates) elected by universal suffrage. These deputies represent the 14 departments proportionally according to their population sizes. The distribution of seats follows the D’Hondt method.

Municipalities are governed by a Municipal Council with deliberative and normative authority, acting as the highest authority in the municipality and its districts. The council is composed of a mayor, a syndic, two principal councilors, and four substitute councilors who preferably replace councilors of the same party.

The presidential term lasts five years. Members of the Legislative Assembly serve three-year terms and may be reelected. The Municipal Council, including the mayor, serves three-year terms. Article 152 of the Constitution establishes that a person cannot run for immediate successive presidential terms, although a 2021 ruling by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court allows presidents to seek immediate reelection.

The President and Vice President are elected by absolute majority, and if no candidate obtains this, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal nominates the two political parties or coalitions with the most votes to call a second round. Legislative deputies are elected by proportional representation. For Municipal Councils, the party or coalition winning the simple majority of votes obtains the mayor and syndic posts, while councilor seats are distributed proportionally using the quotient and remainder method.

Closed lists.

Electoral territorial constituencies exist at municipal, departmental, and national levels, coinciding with municipalities, departments, and the national territory, respectively. The national constituency is used for the election of the President and Vice President, as well as deputies to the Central American Parliament. Municipal constituencies comprise the territorial area of each municipality and are subdivided into voting sectors for election purposes.

Yes. The Political Parties Law (Legislative Decree No. 307 of 2013) establishes in Article 38 that political parties must include at least 30% women in their candidate lists for the Legislative Assembly, Central American Parliament, and Municipal Councils. This quota applies at the national, departmental, and municipal levels, depending on the lists presented. For Municipal Council candidacies, the 30% minimum female participation applies both to winning party lists and those determining order of precedence when no simple majority is obtained. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal, through the Departmental Electoral Board, verifies compliance when parties submit their lists.

Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador and Municipal Code (1986).

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal is the highest electoral authority. It enjoys full jurisdictional, administrative, and financial autonomy in electoral matters and is not subordinated to any other State organ. It is composed of five magistrates serving five-year terms, elected by the Legislative Assembly.