LIVE: Bukele gives press conference about elections

In a different scenario in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, El Salvador will celebrate municipal and parliamentary elections for the 2021-2024 period on February 28.

More than 5.3 million citizens are on the electoral roll. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has enabled 1,595 voting centers in the country and 8,451 Voting Receiving Boards (JRV) for this event.

READ ALSO: Seniors, the first to vote on February 28th

In this space you can follow the most relevant incidents of election day that started with some delay in some polling stations.

2:40 PMPresident Nayib Bukele will hold a press conference from a hotel in the capital prior to his vote, calling on the population to come out and vote. “There is still time,” said the president.

2.05 pm Adán Perdomo, seeking his reelection to the Ilopango Municipality, casts his vote.

1:50 PM At the Cristóbal Colón de Nahuilingo School Center, in Sonsonate, the data transmission equipment is ready to be delivered to the JRVs at 5:00 pm when voting day closes. The teams are put to work for three hours in the event of a blackout, explains Gladys de Castro, a member of the broadcast team.

The electoral environment at the Cristóbal Colón de Nahuilingo School Center, in Sonsonate. Photo / Magdalena Reyes

1:40 PM Public prosecutor Raúl Melara speaks via Twitter about the attention in the polling stations.

1:15 PM Agustina Pérez, 89, attended the voting center, dressed in the typical costume of the indigenous community that still refuses to disappear in the municipality of Nahuizalco, in Sonsonate. “I have come to vote because it is my duty and a principle, I vote for my blood and because it is important,” said the 80-year-old who arrived accompanied by the youngest of her seven children.

1.05 pm Mayor of Santa Ana and candidate for re-election by ARENA, Milena de Escalón, cast her vote in the INSA Voting Center.

1:00 pmMario Durán, candidate for Mayor of San Salvador for New Ideas, cast his vote in the Manuel José Arce National Institute, in the Modelo neighborhood of San Salvador.

12.30 pm Some young people in San Miguel stated that they prefer facial mood because that way they agree that they choose the people they identify with.

12:05 pm In Guaymango, Ahuachapán, some violence took place in the early morning hours before the voting tables were installed. One of them was played by Osiris Luna, Director General of Penal Centers and Deputy Minister of Justice, who was accused of forcibly entering the polling station along with other members of Nuevas Ideas and interfering with the JRV installation without being accredited. according to a video posted by 106.9 FM Radio on his Twitter account.

Party militants invade the polling station. Video from: @arpassv

12.00 Despite the ban on taking children to polling stations in light of COVID-19, it was noted that some citizens went to the polls accompanied by minors.

11:50 am New Ideas supporters and the candidate for Mayor of Santa Ana, Gustavo Acevedo, gave shirts with the candidate’s logo for the municipality to people attending the voting center at Rafael Álvarez Lalinde school.

11:45 amMembers of a Voting Receiving Board (JRV) of the Zacamil Kindergarten, in Mejicanos, stated that there was not enough equipment for them. In most JRVs there was only one table.

11:35 am Miguel Pereira, pursuing his re-election as Mayor of San Miguel by the FMLN, cast his vote in the Fe y Alegría center.

half past eleven The Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy, ​​Brendan O’Brien, visited the Concha Viuda de Escalón School Voting Center, reiterating that his government supports fair, transparent and peaceful elections. He insisted: “The election where all votes count is critical. What we want to see is patience in the process. Sometimes the results take time ”.

11:20 am Attorney General Raúl Melara reported on the arrest of a suspect for electoral fraud in the department of La Unión. As indicated, it was a person who voted in a polling station where it was not his turn to vote.

11:05 am The Mayor of San Salvador seeking re-election by ARENA, Ernesto Muyshondt, upon his arrival at the Concha widow of Escalón’s polling station to cast the vote. Muyshondt said he hopes the government will not use the police and military for electoral purposes.

11.00 am Salvadoran Joaquín López complained because after fifteen minutes the ink on his fingers was not drawing. He reported the poor quality of the product.

10:50 am International observers are reporting irregularities at the República Oriental de Uruguay School Center, in the Zacamil district, in Mejicanos. Representatives Adamaris Silva and Nancy Flores, of Mexico, indicated that police officers and polling station staff did not prioritize the voting of older adults and that they had received complaints about a political party spreading propaganda.

10:50 am Deputy Margarita Escobar, seeking reelection through ARENA, voted in the Concha Viuda de Escalón School Center, but at the time of voting, they broke the corner of one of the ballots, for which she had to be canceled and gave her another vote.

10:40 am At the Romero Albergue School Center there are lines outside and within the electoral college. There were disagreements in some of the voting councils (JRV) to open the polls.

10:30 am At the National Institute of Commerce (Inco) in Salvador, there were delays at the start of election day and physical distance was not respected.

10:20 am Former presidential candidate Carlos Calleja arrived at the voting center on Hipódromo Boulevard: “Voting is the best tool for democracy.”

10:15 amGuaymango voters tear down the school gate for late opening.

10:10 am ARENA deputy Norman Quijano cast his vote in the voting center of the Sagrado Corazón School.

10:00 San Miguel mayor candidate for new ideas Will Salgado and his brother aspire to run for re-election as a GANA Numan deputy vote in municipal and parliamentary elections.

9:55 am. This was the atmosphere in the voting center on Hipódromo Boulevard, in San Salvador, where voters waited two hours for it to be possible.

The polling stations on Hipódromo Boulevard opened with a long delay, at about 9 am.

9.45 am The polling station on Hipódromo Boulevard in San Salvador opened two hours late to civilians.

9:30 am Ernesto Sanabria, press secretary for the El Salvador presidency, was reprimanded by the national civil police for violating electoral law and attempting to take a photo of his ballot paper.

9:00 am Voters gathered at the Monseñor Romero Vocational Training Center, in Ciudad Arce, La Libertad.

8.45 am At the Juana López polling station, in Ciudad Delgado, there are no smears, so despite the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens had to access the old method of dipping their finger in indelible ink.

A voter dips his finger in the indelible ink for the lack of cotton swabs in the Juan López School Center’s voting center. Photo / Menly Cortez

8:30 amAt least 20 people who have completed JRV training at the Thomas Jefferson Voting Center in Sonsonate have not received any official credentials to settle.

7:30 am International observers are at the various voting centers.

7:20 am Some citizens were still waiting for the opening of voting centers.

7.15 am Older adults were the first to vote on February 28.

7:00 Most polling stations open their doors to eligible citizens to cast their votes, some delayed.