El Salvador's legislature approves the vote for citizens outside of country

Approximately one out of every four person born in El Salvador today lives outside of the country.   Until now, they could not vote in the country's elections unless they returned to El Salvador to cast a ballot   This week the National Assembly adopted a law which will allow those citizens outside of the country to vote starting with the 2014 presidential elections.

Salvadorans living in the US and elsewhere who have obtained an identity document (DUI) will be able to cast a vote by mail.   Salvadoran authorities are projecting that 200,000 votes will be cast this way in 2014 and that it will cost approximately $21 million to implement.

At this point, I think it is too early to project what impact this exterior vote will have on the outcome of the 2014 presidential election.

Comments

Paul Kirby said…
That's very interesting. Would it favour a left leaning or right leaning candidate?
Tim said…
My sense is that the vote from outside of the country will be centrist. If Sanchez Ceren takes a hard left position, I think he will have a hard time getting the external vote. But I am not sure how strong the support is for ARENA in the Salvadoran diaspora.
Paul Kirby said…
$21 million is a lot of money also. Money I'm sure the country badly needs.
Carlos X. said…
I had heard that it would be limited scope, to under a handful U.S. (i.e., not Canada, Australia or Italy) metropolitan areas.