2027 Salvadoran presidential election

Presidency of Nayib Bukele

Nayib Bukele became President of El Salvador on 1 June 2019 after winning that year's presidential election.^[1] Nuevas Ideas, Bukele's political party, won the 2021 legislative election in a landslide and used its supermajority in the Legislative Assembly to replace the five magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice's Constitutional Court.^{[2]: 353 & 357} In 2022, Bukele initiated a nationwide gang crackdown that as of March 2025^[update], had resulted in over 84,200 arrests^[3] and has been accused of human rights violations and secret negotiations with gangs.^[4]: 93 As a part of the crackdown, he opened the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a prison with a capacity of 40,000 inmates.^[5] Bukele has been described by journalists as an authoritarian^[6][7] and an autocrat,^[8]: 27 yet also holds approval ratings ranging in the 80s and 90s.^{[4]: 77 [8]: 27}

Under Bukele, El Salvador has experienced democratic backsliding.^[9]: 14 In 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the incumbent president was eligible to run for re-election immediately, overturning a 2014 ruling that held that immediate re-election was unconstitutional. The following year, Bukele announced his intention to run for re-election in the 2024 presidential election.^[2]: 357 Opposition politicians criticized the ruling and Bukele's seeking re-election as unconstitutional.^[10][11] Bukele won re-election with almost 85 percent of the vote^[12] in a landslide victory^[13][14] and his second term began on 1 June 2024. Nuevas Ideas won 54 of the Legislative Assembly's 60 seats in concurrent legislative elections.^[2]: 360

Presidential re-election

On 31 July 2025, the Legislative Assembly voted to approve several amendments to the constitution of El Salvador. Among them were the abolition of presidential term limits and the increase of presidential term lengths from 5 to 6 years.^[15] The Legislative Assembly also voted to abolish the two-round system in favor of first-past-the-post^[16] and moved the date of the next presidential election from 2029 to 2027, bringing the presidential election cycle in line with the three-year legislative and municipal election cycle. The latter reform will end Bukele's second term on 1 June 2027, two years ahead of the original date of 1 June 2029.^[17] Another amendment enabled the sitting president to seek re-election without needing to take a leave of absence six months before the next presidential term begins. In total, five articles of the constitution were amended or eliminated.^[18]

The vote was split along partisan lines: Bukele's 57 allies voted in favor of the constitutional reforms and the 3 members of the opposition voted against them.^[15][19] Ana Figueroa, who proposed the reforms, argued that term limits historically were allowed for most elected offices without restrictions with the only exception being the presidency and that Salvadorans have a right to determine how long elected officials should remain in office.^[20] Suecy Callejas, the vice president of the Legislative Assembly, stated that "power has returned to the only place that it truly belongs [...] to the Salvadoran people".^[17] Marcela Villatoro, a deputy of the opposition Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), remarked that "today, democracy has died in El Salvador".^[15] Claudia Ortiz, a deputy of Vamos, described the reforms as "an abuse of power and a caricature of democracy".^[16] Carlos García Saade and Manuel Flores, the leaders of ARENA and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), respectively, both criticized the reforms.^[21][22] Meanwhile, Xavier Zablah Bukele, the leader of Nuevas Ideas, supported Bukele remaining in office for a third term.^[23] Juanita Goebertus, the director of Human Rights Watch's Americas division, warned that El Salvador "is following the same path as Venezuela" ("está recorriendo el mismo camino que Venezuela").^[24] At the time of the reforms, Nicaragua and Venezuela were the only other Latin American countries to allow indefinite re-election.^[25]

On 2 August, Bukele posted on X accusing critics of holding a "double standard" and arguing that indefinite re-election should be allowed in El Salvador as it is allowed for the heads of government of "90% of developed countries".^[27][28] The United States Department of State backed the constitutional reforms, remarking in a statement that "it is up to them to decide how their country should be governed".^[29] Ortiz filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of Justice on 8 August to declare the constitutional amendments that increased presidential term lengths and abolished term limits to be unconstitutional.^[30] Villatoro criticized the lawsuit, arguing that it "would ultimately endorse" ("terminarían de avalar") the reforms as the same Supreme Court justices enabled Bukele's first re-election.^[31]

In February 2026, Vice President Félix Ulloa defended indefinite re-election, arguing that it allowed people to "make decisions freely, directly, democratically, and securely" ("toman las decisiones de manera libre, directa, democráticamente, de manera segura"). Ulloa further claimed that the Legislative Assembly removed constitutional term limits due to Bukele's landslide victory in 2024.^[32] According to an opinion poll conducted by the Central American University in May 2026, 65.3 percent of Salvadorans supported moving the presidential election from 2029 to 2027 while 23.9 percent opposed moving the election.^[33]

Election procedure

A presidential election was initially scheduled to be held in 2029, five years after the 2024 presidential election, but the Legislative Assembly voted in 2025 to reschedule the election for 2027.^[15][34] The election is scheduled to occur on 28 February 2027 with concurrent legislative and municipal elections.^[35] Salvadorans outside of the country will be able to vote online from 30 January to 28 February.^[36] As of 6 June 2026^[update], there are 6,550,487 registered voters, of which, 5,451,501 reside in the country and 1,098,986 live abroad.^[37] Salvadorans have until 29 November 2026 to be registered to vote.^[38]

Salvadorans will elect a president and a vice president on a joint-ticket. All candidates must be Salvadoran citizens by birth and at least 30 years old. Presidential and vice presidential candidates must be affiliated with political parties registered with the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) in order to participate in the election.^[39]: 273 To win, a candidate needs a plurality.^[16] FMLN election analysis director Irving Sorto questioned if the election's conduct would be free and fair due to the continued implementation of the state of exception during the gang crackdown.^[40] On 2 December 2025, the Legislative Assembly approved a US$172.1 million budget for the 2027 election.^[41]

On 15 August, the TSE announced that it will have 92 voting centers outside of El Salvador for expatriates to vote, an increase from 81 in 2024. Of the 92, 53 will be in the United States. Additionally, there will be 4 in Canada and Mexico each, 3 in Italy and Spain each, 2 in Australia, and 1 in 23 other countries each.^[a][42]

Political parties

Political parties must be registered with the TSE in order to participate in the 2027 presidential elections. As of February 2026^[update], eleven political parties are eligible to participate in the election.^[43] New political parties had until 4 April to petition the TSE for registration and have until 31 August to be fully registered.^[44] The following table shows the eleven political parties that are eligible to register candidates with the TSE and whether or not they plan to register presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Nominated candidates

More information Party, Candidate ...

Party		Candidate		Running mate		Date nominated	Date registered
	Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front		Rafael Aguirre		Madaí Santos	26 July 2026[46]	TBD
	Nuevas Ideas		Nayib Bukele 43rd President of El Salvador (2019–present) Mayor of San Salvador (2015–2018) Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán (2012–2015)		Félix Ulloa 50th Vice President of El Salvador (2019–present)	12 July 2026[47]	TBD
	National Coalition Party		Alirio García Flamenco Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2019)		Mauricio Vilanova [es] Mayor of San José Guayabal (2000–2024)	29 July 2026[48]	TBD
	Nationalist Republican Alliance		Mayteé Iraheta Deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2015–2021)		Verónica Henríquez	26 July 2026[49]	TBD

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Declined to be candidates

The following individuals have declined to run as a presidential candidate.

• Manuel Flores (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front): Mayor of Quezaltepeque (2003–2012), Deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2012–2021), Secretary-General of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (2024–present), 2024 FMLN presidential candidate^[50]
• Guillermo Gallegos (Grand Alliance for National Unity): Deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2000–2024), President of the Legislative Assembly (2016–2018), Vice President of the Grand Alliance for National Unity (2010–present)^[51]
• Claudia Ortiz (Vamos): Deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2021–present)^[52]
• Marcela Villatoro (Nationalist Republican Alliance): Deputy of the Legislative Assembly (2018–present)^[53]

The following individuals expressed interest in running or a political party considered nominating them as a presidential candidate but ultimately did not run.

• Gerardo Awad (Salvadoran Independent Party): businessman, 2019 ARENA presidential pre-candidate, 2024 PAIS presidential pre-candidate^[54]
• Miguel Fortín (proposed by Cambio Total): contributor for La Prensa Gráfica^[55][56]
• Mario Vega (proposed by the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front): leader of the Elim International Christian Mission^[57]
• Idalia Zúniga (proposed by the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front): teacher^[57]

Nuevas Ideas

In a 2024 interview with Time, Bukele stated that he would not seek a third term in 2029 (before the election date was moved to 2027).^[63] Although Bukele declined to run in the next election, The Economist speculated immediately after Bukele's re-election that he could seek to run for a third term as he remarked that the constitution did not "currently" allow for a third presidential term.^[64] The July 2025 constitutional reforms made Bukele eligible to run for re-election in 2027.^[15][16][65] In December 2025, Bukele told Spanish YouTuber TheGrefg in an interview that he would like to govern El Salvador for "ten more years" ("diez años más").^[66] If Bukele wins re-election in 2027 and completes his third term, he would become the longest serving president in Salvadoran history, surpassing Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez who served for twelve years between 1931 and 1944.^{[67][68]: 17}

In February 2026, Ulloa told a Spanish journalist that he was unsure if he would seek re-election to the vice presidency, adding that "I imagine so, otherwise I would be letting the people down" ("me imagino que sí, si no, defraudaría al pueblo").^[32] Nuevas Ideas allowed individuals to register their candidacies beginning on 28 June.^[69] That same day, Bukele and Ulloa registered as pre-candidates for the presidency and vice presidency, respectively;^[70] on 12 July, the party held its primary election and formally nominated both as its candidates.^[47]

Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front

On 3 August 2025, Flores, who was the FMLN's 2024 presidential candidate, called on FMLN party members to prepare to campaign for the 2027 election. He stated that he was campaigning to "recover democracy" ("recuperar la democracia").^[71] On 7 December, Flores announced that the FMLN will participate in the 2027 election. He stated that the party is open to forming a coalition to defeat Bukele^[72][73] but ruled out forming a coalition with ARENA, describing such a coalition as "impossible".^[74] Flores is leading the FMLN's 2027 electoral campaign,^[75] and on 20 July, he announced that he would not run for president in 2027.^[50]

In early July, the an anonymous sources from within the FMLN stated that the party was considering three potential presidential candidates: Rafael Aguirre, a physician and the secretary-general of the Union of Salvadoran Social Security Institute Physicians (Simetrisss); Mario Vega, a Pentecostal pastor and leader of the Elim International Christian Mission; and Idalia Zúniga, a teacher and union leader. At the time, Aguirre stated that he was evaluating running for president;^[57] on 12 July, he registered with the FMLN as a presidential pre-candidate.^[76] Efraín Benítez Andrade, an engineer,^[77] registered as one of multiple vice presidential pre-candidates.^[78] The FMLN held its primary election on 26 July 2026;^[79] the party selected Aguirre as its presidential candidate for Madaí Santos, a former nurse, as its vice presidential candidate.^[46]

Aguirre has stated that his proposals aim to move El Salvador into the future and prevent the country from returning to the past. Aguirre has proposed the creation of a "national plan" to improve healthcare and education.^[77] He also proposed creating a "fiscal pact" to acquire improved salaries for health workers.^[78] Aguirre announced that his government will focus on agriculture, culture, the economy, education, healthcare, tourism, and the youth.^[80] During an interview on the Las Cosas Como Son morning show, Aguirre stated that he would assess whether or not to maintain the state of exception that has been in effect since 2022 when the gang crackdown began, adding that arrested gang members would remain imprisoned and not be released.^[81] He later stated that he supports the state of exception.^[82] Aguirre supports holding a nationwide referendum regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage and abortion.^[81]

Nationalist Republican Alliance

On 11 August 2025, Francisco Lira (an ARENA deputy in the Legislative Assembly) called on ARENA to not participate in the presidential election as it would "support unconstitutional re-election" ("avalar la reelección inconstitucional") and called on Salvadorans to spoil their vote,^[83] but ARENA's National Executive Council (COENA) stated that the party will participate.^[84] Saade confirmed ARENA's participation in September, stating that the party had "cleaned house" ("limpiar la casa").^[85] Joel Sánchez, ARENA's 2024 presidential candidate, remarked on the Las Cosas Como Son show in February 2026 that he believes Bukele will win re-election and described ARENA's leadership as "disappearing".^[86]

In May, Villatoro declined to run for president.^[53] ARENA held its primary election on 26 July,^[87] having postponed them from 19 July.^[88] The party nominated Mayteé Iraheta—a deputy of the Legislative Assembly for ARENA from 2015 to 2021—as its presidential candidate and Verónica Henríquez—an agronomist and ARENA's vice president of campaigning—as its vice presidential candidate.^[49] The Iraheta–Henríquez ticket is the first time ARENA has ever nominated two women for president and vice president.^[89] In August, Saade stated that the party did not disclose the names of their candidates before the primary election to protect them from possible "attacks" from the government.^[90] That same month, he also stated that not nominating a presidential candidate would have been "a great error" ("un gran error") and denied criticism that participating in the election would legitimize Bukele's seeking a third term. He also denied online rumors that the government had supposedly threatened ARENA to nominate a candidate to legitimize the election.^[91]

National Coalition Party

In March 2026, National Coalition Party (PCN) leader Manuel Rodríguez stated that the PCN was evaluating whether or not it would participate in the 2027 presidential election.^[92] On 29 July, Salvadoran newspapers reported that the PCN held its primary election and nominated retired divisional general Alirio García Flamenco for president and Mauricio Vilanova [es], a former mayor of San José Guayabal, for vice president.^[48] According to the PCN, however, it does not yet have a formalized presidential candidate and that the primary process will be complete by 5 August.^[93]

Grand Alliance for National Unity

On 25 August 2025, Guillermo Gallegos, the vice president of the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), announced in an interview that GANA would run a presidential candidate in 2027. He added that GANA's goal in running a presidential candidate is to support Bukele by "legitimizing the electoral process" ("legitimando el proceso electoral") as he believed that "there is no one today who can beat [Bukele]" ("no hay nadie que le gane al presidente hoy por hoy").^[51] In a later interview, Gallegos stated that another goal in running a candidate is to prevent ARENA and the FMLN from nominating a magistrate to the TSE. Three of the five TSE magistrates are nominated by the three parties with the most votes in a presidential election, and Gallegos wants GANA to nominate one of the three to support Bukele.^[94][95] On 29 April, the Legislative Assembly approved a constitutional reform that eliminated the mechanism where political parties nominate TSE magistrates and replaced it with a "general and public process" ("proceso general y público").^[96]

GANA held its primary election from 1 June to 29 July.^[97] Gallegos stated that GANA would support Bukele if he ran for re-election^[98] and that he himself would not run for president.^[51] GANA ultimately did not nominate a presidential candidate, and Gallegos stated that the party supported Bukele's candidacy.^[99]

Vamos

On 17 August 2025, Ortiz told Telenoticias Megavisión that Vamos was evaluating whether or not to participate in the 2027 presidential election as "[the government] just changed the rules" ("acaban de cambiar las reglas").^[100][101] In February 2026, Ortiz stated that the party was interested in nominating a presidential candidate.^[102]

On 16 March 2026, Vamos leader Cesia Rivas announced that Vamos would not participate in the presidential election, stating that "we cannot legitimize an election that is clearly unconstitutional" ("no podíamos legitimar una elección que claramente es inconstitucional"). She added that the party would solely focus on the legislative and municipal elections.^[103] Although Vamos stated it would not run a presidential candidate,^[104][105] Ortiz stated in April 2026 that she was still considering running for president with Vamos instead of seeking another term in the Legislative Assembly.^[106] In July, Ortiz registered to run for re-election, ending her potential presidential candidacy.^[52]

Christian Democratic Party

On 6 March 2026, Nelson de la Cruz Alvarado, the judicial affairs secretary of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), announced that the PDC will not present a presidential candidate. He stated that the reason was because the party considered Bukele's high popularity to be an indicator that it was not the correct time for the party to launch a presidential campaign.^[107] Despite de la Cruz's statement, the PDC convoked its presidential primary election^[108] and occurred on 25 July 2026.^[109] The PDC ultimately did not nominate a presidential candidate.^[110]

Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity

The Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity (FPS) held its primary election from 19 to 26 July 2026.^[111] The FPS selected a presidential candidate but is yet to announce them.^[110]

Salvadoran Democracy

Salvadoran Democracy (DS) has stated that it will prioritize the legislative elections during 2027 but has not ruled out participation in the presidential election.^[112] It convoked its primary election on 6 April 2026 but has not scheduled a date.^[113] As DS did not participate in the 2024 elections, it must participate in the 2027 elections in order to avoid cancelation by the TSE in accordance with the Law of Political Parties.^[114]

Other parties

In July 2025, Ronal Umaña, the leader of the unregistered political party Cambio Total, called for ARENA and the FMLN to unite under Cambio Total's banner during the 2027 presidential election.^[115] The following month, he proposed nominating La Prensa Gráfica contributor José Miguel Fortín Magaña as a presidential candidate^[55] and economist Evelyn Martínez as a vice presidential candidate.^[56]

Solidary Force (FS) scheduled its presidential primary election for 29 July 2026,^[116] but party leader Rigoberto Soto confirmed on the day of the primary that FS would not nominate a presidential candidate.^[117] The Salvadoran Independent Party (PAIS) did not convoke its primary elections and did not participate in the presidential election.^[118]