2009 Salvadoran presidential election
15 March 2009
Registered4,226,479
Turnout62.92% (Decrease4.42pp)
 
Nominee Mauricio Funes Rodrigo Ávila
Party FMLN ARENA
Running mate Salvador Sánchez Cerén Arturo Zablah
Popular vote 1,354,000 1,284,588
Percentage 51.32% 48.68%
Results by department
President before election

Antonio Saca
ARENA

 Elected President

Mauricio Funes
FMLN

Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 15 March 2009. The main candidates were Rodrigo Ávila (ARENA) and Mauricio Funes (FMLN). Funes won the election with 51.3% of the vote and became the first leftist president of El Salvador.[1]

Candidates

The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front nominated Mauricio Funes as its presidential candidate and Salvador Sánchez Cerén as his running mate. The Nationalist Republican Alliance nominated Rodrigo Ávila and Arturo Zablah.

The Christian Democratic Party had nominated Carlos Rivas Zamora and Merlin Peña, but withdrew the nominations on 2 February 2009 after it became apparent that they would have little chance of winning the election. The PDC did not immediately voice support for one of the other candidates.[2] In the same direction, the PCN, which had nominated Luis Tomás Chévez, also withdrew its candidate a couple of days later.

Opinion polls

A poll from mid September 2008 gave Funes 29.2% and Ávila 26.1%, while Tomás Chévez (PCN) got 1.9%. However, a poll from late September gave Funes 47.4% to 23.8% for Ávila. This latter poll showing Funes with a large lead is more consistent with polling from previous months.[3][4]

Later polls from 2008 showed a tightening race between Funes and Ávila, with Funes retaining the lead.[5]

Results

Funes won the election with 51.3% of the vote, while Avila received 48.7%, marking the first time ARENA had lost a presidential election in 20 years.[6] Of the election, Funes said, "This is the happiest night of my life, and I want it to be the night of El Salvador's greatest hope. I want to thank all the people who voted for me and chose that path of hope and change."[7] Ávila conceded defeat, saying that he and his party "will be a constructive opposition."[7] An observation team from the Organization of American States said that the elections were held without any major incidents, although there were claims of Hondurans voting at a voting center in Torola, Morazán.[8]

Several governments said that they looked forward to working with the new government, including Taiwan and the United States.[9][10]

CandidateRunning matePartyVotes%
Mauricio FunesSalvador Sánchez CerénFarabundo Martí National Liberation Front1,354,00051.32
Rodrigo ÁvilaArturo ZablahNationalist Republican Alliance1,284,58848.68
Total2,638,588100.00
Valid votes2,638,58899.23
Invalid/blank votes20,5500.77
Total votes2,659,138100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,226,47962.92
Source: TSE

References

  1. ↑ Brice, Arthur. "El Salvador's first leftist president inaugurated". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Christian Dems Quit Salvador Election Race". Prensa Latina. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  3. ↑ "Leftist Funes Loses Steam in El Salvador". Angus Reid Global Monitor. 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Leftist Funes Leads Ávila in El Salvado". Angus Reid Global Monitor. 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  5. ↑ "Close Presidential Race Continues in El Salvador". Angus Reid Global Monitor. 1 December 2008. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  6. ↑ "Left-winger wins El Salvador poll". BBC. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  7. 1 2 Booth, William (16 March 2009). "Leftist Declares Victory In El Salvador Election". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  8. ↑ "OAS recognizes El Salvador's election orderly held". Xinhua. 16 March 2009. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  9. ↑ "Taiwan to strengthen ties with El Salvador's next president". M&C. 16 March 2009. Archived from the original on 19 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  10. ↑ "US congratulates leftist winner in El Salvador". AFP. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
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