EL SALVADOR'S ELECTION MECHANICS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92M00732R000900010019-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 26, 2014
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: March 17, 1989
• Content Type: MISC

,S
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/03/27: CIA-RDP92M00732R000900010019-8
OCA 0981-89
I I MAR 1989
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Office of Congressional Affairs
Washington, D.C. 20505
Telephone: [phone]
To: Mr. Richard Giza
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
House of Representatives
Washington. D.C. 20515
Dick,
Enclosed is the unclassified version on
El Salvador's Election Mechanics.
Enclosure
House Affairs
MIMI 1,,
FORM 533 OBSOLETE
PREVIOUS
2-86 EDITIONS.
Distribution:
Original - Addr,essee
?- OCA ReCO77-7
f - Chrono
(40)
STAT
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/03/27: CIA-RDP92M00732R000900010019-8
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/03/27: CIA-RDP92M00732R000900010019-8
El Salvador's Election Mechanics
The Central Election Council (CCE) is in charge of most of the mechanics of
the Salvadoran election process not specified by the constitution. Its
members are appointed by the Assembly from lists submitted by the three
parties that won the most votes in 1984 and currently include a president from
the Christian Democratic Party, and one member each from ARENA and the
National Reconciliation Party. The CCE oversees voter registraion,
distribution of voter identity cards, and the tabulation of the results.
Voting Procedures
When 7,000 polling sites open at 0700, local time, Salvadorans will vote by
presenting their identification cards in the town they designated when
registering. Polling officials will verify each voter's name on the electoral
registry. The voter must mark the symbol of the party or coalition he
prefers, fold the ballot in half, and put it in a transparent, plexiglass
ballot box. The voter's name will then be marked off the registry. The voter
will retrieve his card and will have a finger marked with indelible ink to
prevent multiple voting.
Transmission of Results
Immediately after the polls close at 1800, the polling officials will count
the ballots in the presence of party workers and record the final vote tally
and any challenges made by poll watchers. The polling officials and poll
watchers will countersign the official record and can announce unofficial
results. Copies of the record are sent to the municipal and departmental
electoral boards and the attorney general's office. Within one day, the CCE
in the capital must receive copies of the results and do a final tabulation.
All three members of the CCE must sign the credentials of the election winner
within eight days of the formal declaration of the final results. If they do
not, the election winner may take office provisionally based on the final vote
count results announced by the CCE.
A Second Round
The same election mechanics will apply. A runoff must take place before 1
June, and because of the time needed to print new ballots and for other
preparations, will probably come in May. To reduce the chances of fraud, no
new indentification cards will be issued; no new candidates can enter the
race.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2014/03/27: CIA-RDP92M00732R000900010019-8