Election Day
Early morning view from the back of the school in El Carmen, Cuzcatlan, where our observerer group was assigned to monitor voting


Voting begins. Each table had 2 observers (main & alternate) from each party.


Voters consult lists of names and photos - many seemed illiterate - to see at which table to vote


The school's front courtyard around 8:20, before the morning rush


Things really began to pick up around 10am.


Your humble reporter takes a break to have his picture made in front of two of the provinces several volcanos.


The taker of the previous photo, Porfirio Palacios, and two of his children. He said they walked for two hours to get to the polls.


View to the west from behind the school.


Voting continues into the afternoon.


Around 4:00, an hour before polls closed, I took brief walk through the town of El Carmen.


The church.


In El Carmen. The bus is one of many vehicles used by ARENA supporters to bring voters to the polls. I only saw one FMLN vehicle.


The school courtyard 15 minutes or so before the polls closed.


At 2 or 3 minutes past 5:00 the front gate of the school clanged shut, and the counting of votes began.



The President of the table examines each ballot...



and holds it up for all to see.



Once the counting of uncontested ballots is complete, the crew assigned to each table, including the observers from each party, review contested ballots in an attempt to achieve concensus. If they cannot agree, they call in the president of the municipal election council, which oversees the whole process. I don't pretend to have become an expert in the intricacies of the election law. I did find this reconciliation process fascinating. The following two ballots, both claimed by ARENA and contested by FMLN, are ones for which the council president had to be called in.


This ballot was annulled because, though to me the voter's intention seems clear, the mark did not touch the "flag".


This ballot, whose completer's intention seems much less clear than in the previous case, counted as a vote for ARENA, since the mark touched the flag.


On the way back to San Salvador we stopped at a gas station. I was fascinated by these motorized bicycles.


By the time we got back to FMLN HQ in the capital the outcome had become clear, and celebrations were in full swing.