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2027 Salvadoran legislative election

2027 Salvadoran legislative election
El Salvador
28 February 2027
All 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly
31 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Current seats
NI Xavier Zablah Bukele 54
ARENA Carlos García Saade 2
PCN Manuel Rodríguez 2
PDC Reinaldo Carballo 1
Vamos Cesia Rivas 1
Incumbent President
Ernesto Castro
Nuevas Ideas

Legislative and municipal elections are scheduled to be held in El Salvador on 28 February 2027, three years after the 2024 legislative election. Salvadorans will elect all 60 members of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador and all members of the country's 44 municipal councils. The election will occur with concurrent presidential elections. As of February 2026, eleven political parties are eligible to participate in the election.

Political background

Nuevas Ideas, the political party of Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele, won the 2024 legislative election in a landslide victory, winning 54 of the Legislative Assembly's 60 seats.[1]: 360  Nuevas Ideas and allied parties also won 43 of the country's 44 municipalities and 16 of El Salvador's 20 seats in the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN).[2] The members of the 14th Legislative Assembly and the 44 municipal councils assumed office on 1 May 2024.[3][4]

Electoral reforms

On 31 July 2025, the Legislative Assembly voted to reform the constitution of El Salvador. One of the reforms included El Salvador's withdrawal from PARLACEN, describing it as an "inefficient waste" ("gasto ineficiente"). Due to this withdrawal, El Salvador will not elect members to PARLACEN in 2027.[5] Another reform moved the date of the 2029 presidential election to 2027 and extended presidential terms to six years. This reform made it so future presidential and legislative elections will occur in concurrence with each other instead of being staggered.[6]

Electoral system

Electoral procedure

A map of El Salvador showing the number of deputies assigned to each department
The number of seats in the Legislative Assembly assigned to each of the 14 departments[7]

In February 2025, the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) announced that it had scheduled the 2027 legislative and municipal elections to occur on 28 February 2027.[2][8] Members of the Legislative Assembly will be elected via the D'Hondt method.[9] All legislative candidates must be Salvadoran citizens by birth and be at least 25 years old.[10]: 273  On 2 December 2025, the Legislative Assembly approved a US$172.1 million budget for the 2027 election.[11]

Political parties

Political parties must be registered with the TSE in order to participate in the 2027 presidential elections. As of February 2026, eleven political parties are eligible to participate in the election.[12]

Party Leader 2024 results
Legislative Municipalities
PDC Christian Democratic Party
Partido Demócrata Cristiano 		Reinaldo Carballo
1 / 60
4 / 44
FMLN Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional 		Manuel Flores
0 / 60
0 / 44
GANA Grand Alliance for National Unity
Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional 		Nelson Guardado
0 / 60
6 / 44
V Let's Go
Vamos 		Cesia Rivas
1 / 60
0 / 44
PCN National Coalition Party
Partido de Concertación Nacional 		Manuel Rodríguez
2 / 60
4 / 44
ARENA Nationalist Republican Alliance
Alianza Republicana Nacionalista 		Carlos García Saade
2 / 60
1 / 44
NI New Ideas
Nuevas Ideas 		Xavier Zablah Bukele
54 / 60
28 / 44
DS Salvadoran Democracy
Democracia Salvadoreña 		Adolfo Salume Artiñano
0 / 60
0 / 44
PAIS Salvadoran Independent Party
Partido Independiente Salvadoreño 		Roy García
0 / 60
0 / 44
FPS Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity
Fraternidad Patriota Salvadoreña 		Óscar Morales Lemus
0 / 60
0 / 44
FS Solidary Force
Fuerza Solidaria 		Rigoberto Soto
0 / 60
1 / 44

Election campaign

Political parties have until 7 April 2026 to announce their primary elections and until 29 July to hold them. The parties will then have until 19 November to register their legislative and municipal candidates with the TSE.[13]

Nuevas Ideas

In February 2026, Ernesto Castro, the president of the Legislative Assembly, stated that the opposition winning 16 seats in the Legislative Assembly would "cause instability" ("causar inestabilidad")[14] and "dismantle the state of exception" ("desmantelar el régimen").[15]

Nationalist Republican Alliance

In September 2025, Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party president Carlos García Saade confirmed that ARENA will participate in the 2027 election.[16] In a February 2026 interview with Encuentro TV, Saade said that El Salvador needs a "balance of power" ("balance de poder") in the Legislative Assembly.[14] He also stated that ARENA would not vote to free gang members arrested during the Salvadoran gang crackdown.[15] Saade announced that the party eliminated a requirement for deputy candidates needing to be a member of ARENA for 5 years to run.[14] Joel Sánchez, ARENA's 2024 presidential candidate, remarked on the Las Cosas Como Son show that he believed the opposition could win an additional seat in the Legislative Assembly.[17]

In January 2026, ARENA deputy Marcella Villatoro announced that the party has compiled its list of candidates for the Legislative Assembly from the San Salvador Department.[18] On 13 February 2026, Milagro Navas announced that she will run for re-election as Mayor of La Libertad Este. She is ARENA's only mayor and the only one of El Salvador's 44 mayors aligned with the opposition.[19]

Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front

On 7 December 2025, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) secretary general Manuel Flores announced that the party will participate in the 2027 election. He added that the party was open to forming coalitions in the legislative and municipal elections to defeat Bukele's allies[20][21] but ruled out forming coalitions with ARENA.[22] The FMLN eliminated a rule requiring its electoral candidates to be party members, referring to non-party candidates as "citizen candidates" ("ciudadanos candidatos").[20][21] Flores has announced that he will lead the FMLN's 2027 electoral campaign.[23]

Grand Alliance for National Unity

Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) vice president Guillermo Gallegos stated that the party is open to forming legislative and municipal coalitions with any political party with the exception of ARENA, the FMLN, and Vamos.[24]

Vamos

In December 2025, Vamos deputy Claudia Ortiz stated that Vamos will not form coalitions with any other party.[25] In February 2026, she stated that she was evaluating the possibility of her seeking re-election to the Legislative Assembly. She also stated that the party was interested in nominating candidates in the municipal elections.[26]

Other parties

According to politician Ronal Umaña, ARENA offered to name him as the party's candidate for mayor of San Salvador Centro or La Libertad Sur. He said he would accept the nomination if ARENA, the FMLN, and Vamos agreed to form a coalition.[27]

Opinion polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2027 Salvadoran general election

See also

References

  1. ^ Henríquez, Alexis (16 December 2024). "Entre la Reelección, la Transparencia y la Participación Ciudadana en el Proceso Electoral 2024 en El Salvador" [El Salvador: Between Reelection, Transparency, and Citizen Participation in the 2024 Elections]. Revista Elecciones (in Spanish). 23 (28). Mexico City, Mexico: 353–374. doi:10.53557/Elecciones.2024.v23n28.12. ISSN 1994-5272. OCLC 10791999921. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Salvadoreños Elegirán a Diputados y Concejos Municipales en Elecciones de Febrero de 2027" [Salvadorans Will Elect Deputies and Municipal Councils in February 2027 Elections]. Infobae. 14 May 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  3. ^ Cortez, Arlen (1 May 2024). "Asamblea Legislativa Toma Posesión para el Periodo 2024–2027: Así Estará Conformada la Junta Directiva (+Video)" [The Legislative Assembly for the 2024–2027 Term Assumes Office: This Is How the Directive Junta Will Be Composed (+Video)]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  4. ^ Calderón, Beatriz (1 May 2024). "El Salvador se Reduce a 44 Nuevos Municipios ¿Cómo se Llama el Suyo, Qué Distritos Incluye y Quién lo Gobernará?" [El Salvador Is Reduced to 44 New Municipalities. What Is Yours Called, What Districts Are Included, and Who Will Govern Them?]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  5. ^ "El Salvador: Congreso Aprueba Reforma para Dejar el PARLACEN" [El Salvador: Congress Approves Reform to Leave PARLACEN]. DW Español (in Spanish). 31 July 205. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  6. ^ Graham, Chris (1 August 2025). "El Salvador Scraps Term Limits, Paving Way for Bukele to Rule Indefinitely". BBC. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  7. ^ Magaña, Yolanda (7 June 2023). "Aprueban Reducción a 60 Diputados y Eliminan Diputaciones por Residuos" [They Approve the Reduction to 60 Deputies and Eliminate Deputations for Residues]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  8. ^ "El Salvador Tendrá Elecciones en Febrero de 2027" [El Salvador Will Have Elections in February 2027]. Prensa Latina (in Spanish). 26 February 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  9. ^ Mondragón, Lissette (8 June 2023). "¿Qué es el Método D'Hondt, el Nuevo Sistema de Elección?" [What is the D'Hondt Method, the New Election System?]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  10. ^ Nohlen, Dieter (2005). Elections in the Americas A Data Handbook Volume 1: North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp. 270–299. ISBN 9780191557934. OCLC 58051010. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  11. ^ Morales, David (2 December 2025). "Diputados Aprueban Presupuesto de $172.1 Millones para las Elecciones Generales de 2027" [Deputies Approve a $172.1 Million Budget for the 2027 General Elections]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  12. ^ Mondragón, Lissette (3 February 2026). "¿Habrá Participación de Nuevos Partidos Políticos en Elecciones 2027 en El Salvador? Esto Responde el TSE" [Will New Political Parties Participate in the 2027 Elections in El Salvador? This Is the TSE's Answer]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  13. ^ "FMLN Inicia Proceso de Elección de Candidaturas con Nombramiento de Comisión Electoral y Reglamento" [The FMLN Begins the Election Process for Candidates with the Establishment of the Election and Regulation Commission]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). 10 February 2026. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  14. ^ a b c "Presidente de ARENA Aboga por "Un Balance de Poder" en la Próxima Asamblea Legislativa" ["ARENA President Calls for "A Balance of Power" in the Next Legislative Assembly]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 10 February 2026. Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  15. ^ a b "Presidente de Arena Dice que su Partido no Votaría para Liberar Pandilleros" [ARENA President Says that His Party Will Not Vote to Liberate Gang Members]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 11 February 2026. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  16. ^ García, Jesica (18 September 2025). "ARENA Anuncia que Participará en Elecciones de 2027 Tras «Limpiar la Casa»" [ARENA Announces that It Will Participate in the 2027 Elections After "Cleaning House"]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish).
  17. ^ Morales, David (2 February 2026). "Excandidato Presidencial de ARENA: "El COENA Está Desaparecido, no Tiene Ningún Tipo de Liderazgo"" [Former ARENA Presidential Candidate: "COENA is Disappearing, They Don't Have Any Leadership"]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  18. ^ Morales, David (21 January 2026). "ARENA Completa Lista de Candidatos a Diputados por San Salvador para las Elecciones 2027" [ARENA Completes Its List of Deputy Candidates from San Salvador for the 2027 Elections]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  19. ^ Morales, David (13 February 2026). ""Estoy Lista": Milagro Navas Anuncia que Buscará la Reelección en 2027" ["I Am Ready": Milagro Navas Announces She Will Seek Re-Election in 2027]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  20. ^ a b Crespín, Verónica (7 December 2025). "El FMLN Confirma que Participará en Elecciones 2027 y Elimina el Requisito de ser Afiliado para ser Candidato" [The FMLN Confirms that It Will Participate in the 2027 Elections and Eliminates the Requirement of Being Affiliated with the Party to be a Candidate]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  21. ^ a b Peñate, Susana (8 December 2025). "El FMLN Decidió Participar en las Elecciones de 2027" [The FMLN Decided to Participate in the 2027 Elections]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  22. ^ Guzmán, Jessica (19 December 2025). "¿Unión del FMLN y Arena para Elecciones 2027? "Imposible", Enfatiza Manuel "Chino" Flores" [FMLN and ARENA Union for the 2027 Elections? "Impossible", Says Manuel "Chino" Flores]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  23. ^ "Manuel "Chino" Flores Anuncia que Él Dirigirá Campaña Electoral del FMLN Hacia Comicios 2027" [Manuel "Chino" Flores Announced He Will Lead the FMLN's Electoral Campaign in the 2027 Elections]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 16 February 2026. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  24. ^ Morales, David (16 December 2025). "GANA Competirá Contra ARENA y FMLN en Elección Presidencial por Magistrado del TSE: "No le Podemos Hacer Competencia a Bukele"" [GANA Will Compete Against ARENA and the FMLN in the Presidential Election for the TSE Magistracies: "We Cannot Compete With Bukele"]. La Noticia SV (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  25. ^ Guzmán, Jessica (9 December 2025). "Claudia Ortiz Descarta "Categóricamente" Alianza de Vamos con Partidos para Elecciones 2027" [Claudia Ortiz "Categorically" Dismisses Alliances Between Vamos and Other Parties for the 2027 Elections]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  26. ^ Palacios, Claudia (3 February 2026). "Vamos Realiza Consulta Ciudadana para Definir Candidatos" [Vamos Conducts Citizens Consulting to Select Candidates]. La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  27. ^ Lemus, Adonai (6 February 2026). "ARENA Habría Propuesto a Ronal Umaña como Candidato a Alcalde de San Salvador o Santa Tecla" [ARENA Could Propose Ronal Umaña as a Candidate for Mayor of San Salvador or Santa Tecla]. Diario la Huella (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2026.
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