Salvadoran legislative election, 2009

A parliamentary election was held in El Salvador on 18 January 2009.^[1] The leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) was widely expected to win the most seats for the first time against the nationalist conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).^[2] As a result of the election, the Revolutionary Democratic Front, a left-wing party founded by FMLN dissidents in 2006 with the same name and symbols as the historic FDR from the Salvadoran Civil War, was deregistered as a political party as it failed to gain either a seat or 50,000 votes, as necessary to sustain registration.^[3] All parties contested the election in all departments, except for the FDR, which did not contest the election in three departments and stood jointly with the PDC in two others.

In San Isidro in Cabañas Department, voting had to be rescheduled to 25 January 2009 after a group of non-natives illegally attempted to vote.^[4]

  Summary of the 18 January 2009 Salvadoran Legislative Assembly election results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional)	943,936	42.60%	35	+3
	Nationalist Republican Alliance (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista)	854,166	38.55%	32	–2
	National Conciliation Party (Partido de Conciliación Nacional)	194,751	8.79%	11	+1
	Christian Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano)	146,904	6.63%	5	–1
	Democratic Change (Cambio Democrático)	46,971	2.12%	1	–1
	Revolutionary Democratic Front (Frente Democrático Revolucionario)	21,154	0.95%	0	—
	PDC–FDR	7,707	0.35%	0	—
Totals		2,215,589	100.00%	84	—
Source: Tribunal Supremo Electoral,

References

1. "Smaller Lead for Ruling ARENA in El Salvador". Angus Reid Global Monitor. 2007-11-19. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
2. Renderos, Alex & Wilkinson, Tracy (2009-01-19). "Leftists favored in Salvador elections". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
3. Pastrán, Rosa María (2009-01-20). "FDR acepta su desaparición del mapa político". elsalvador.com. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
4. Soleil, Alexandria & Von Vogt, Maggie (2009-01-29). "El Salvador: Legislative and Municipal Elections Conducted with Flaws". The Narcosphere. Retrieved 2009-01-27.