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GLOBALink | Legislative, municipal elections begin in El Salvador

Source: Xinhua| 2021-03-01 16:54:29|Editor: huaxia


SAN SALVADOR, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- El Salvador opened voting on Sunday to elect the 84 deputies of the Legislative Assembly, officials in the country's 262 municipalities, and a number of representatives to the Central American Parliament.

A total of 5,389,017 Salvadorans are eligible to vote in the elections and 8,451 polling stations have been set up throughout the country, with authorities urging caution due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As part of the preventive measures against COVID-19, older adults had priority to vote in the morning, while all voters must wear face masks and have their temperature taken before entering the polling station.

The presiding judge of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Dora Esmeralda Martinez, said that "voting is a right, it is a duty, its exercise is delegable and inalienable" for Salvadorans.

The midterm elections are being monitored by more than 1,000 international observers and 2,100 local observers.

For the government of President Nayib Bukele, these legislative elections are of the utmost importance, as they could give his New Ideas Party greater representation.


Produced by Xinhua Global Service

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