The historic civic voting process of hundreds of Salvadorans in Los Angeles was marred by disorganization and misinformation, during a day where virtually all voters supported the re-election of President Nayib Bukele.
Since early Sunday morning, hundreds of Salvadorans lined up around the three voting centers in Los Angeles, which closed at 5:00 p.m.
Amelia Crespi, 70, a resident of Los Angeles and born in the capital San Salvador, was one of the last to access the MG Studio voting center, located at 1319 West 11th Street in Los Angeles.
“This vote was very important to me,” said the woman, who along with hundreds of her compatriots endured the inclemency of the powerful winter storm that hit the city.
“I just came from El Salvador and everything good that is happening there is because God wanted it that way, because [Nayib] Bukele is the only president who is backed by God.”
Although the vote was generally peaceful. Complaints were swift among people who were denied the right to vote, despite having all the legal requirements to be part of the process.
On the day that took place in Houston, Texas, some 1,000 Salvadorans were prevented from voting and in Rhode Island (New York) the Supreme Electoral Court only enabled one voting center.
In Los Angeles, the three voting centers that were enabled by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal were overwhelmed, due to insufficient assigned personnel, disorganization and inefficiency in responding to those who were prevented from voting.
“Neither electronically nor in person could I vote,” José Orlando Benítez, a Salvadoran from La Unión, told La Opinión. “A pedantic lady who was monitoring the elections treated me like trash.” He couldn’t identify her.
Benítez, who as a Salvadoran has his official residence in Hollywood, but was in Tijuana, Mexico, from where he traveled to vote in person.
To top off his bad luck, he had to deal with an African-American security guard who was at the entrance to the MG Studio voting center, located at 1319 West 11th Street in Los Angeles. La Opinión witnessed the guard’s crude insults to those who wanted to fulfill their civic duty, including Benítez.
“I tried to vote since January 6 and I couldn’t; Every 30 minutes I tried to do it with my phone, but when I put my face on the screen, the procedure was rejected; I was never able to get past there,” Benítez said in an annoyed tone.
“And when they told me to come to the voting center, I did and, although I also verified my identity with my American passport, they told me that they couldn’t do anything for me,” Benítez added. 48 years old. “This voting system they created is stupid.”
With more than three million potential voters in El Salvador and some 740,000 abroad, Salvadorans voted to continue the work of President Nayib Bukele.
The Salvadorans, who in the diaspora make up Department XV in Los Angeles – where 95% of the entire electorate of 1.5 million are concentrated, their influx to the voting centers was massive. They would choose the president, vice president and deputies of the Legislative Assembly. The new presidential term begins on June 1, 2024 until June 1, 2029.
The joy went to the well
“Voting means everything good for the inhabitants of our country. Everything that has happened in these years is good. We no longer have gangs in El Salvador; all are kept (imprisoned). That is the main thing,” said Marina Zepeda, an 80-year-old Salvadoran, originally from Sonsonate, Armenia.
Zepeda declared that she and her compatriots living in the United States are not interested in criticism of President Bukele regarding alleged human rights abuses by gang members.
“We are also not interested in mothers who say that their children did nothing; “They have to know and accept that their children are criminals and corrupt, and that they have to pay for what they did.”
Although she assured that she completed the paperwork on time for her identification document (DUI), she was not allowed to vote at the voting center on 11th Street.
“A historic moment”
“This is a historic moment, we as the diaspora of El Salvador are happy to see that so many people came to vote,” said José Aguilera, 40, a resident of the city of Gardena. “No government had ever encouraged us to vote for the president.
Aguilera recalled that before her country was spoken very badly of, as a result of the wave of murders attributed to the gangs.
Indeed, El Salvador’s Civil War (1979-1992) left more than 75,000 dead and tens of thousands missing, mostly civilians, and forced tens of thousands more to leave the country due to violence.
Furthermore, in the balance of deaths caused during the government of former president Mauricio Funes, of 2,500 murders caused in 2013 by the scourge of the bloodthirsty Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs, a year later the number of homicides skyrocketed. to more than 3,800.
“Today, seeing that peace and joy that we have in our country, is the reason why we support President Bukele. “He brought us the peace that cost us so much blood,” Aguilera said. “I think that today, the country is on a good path; Before there were so many obstacles and now everyone speaks well because there is no longer the insecurity that existed. “We just have to improve the economy, although the economy is bad all over the world.”
The participation of the Salvadoran diaspora could influence the final formation of the Legislative Assembly, where President Nayib Bukele initially had 58 of the 60 seats that were in dispute.
Exceeded expectations
Alejandro Letona, consul general of El Salvador in Los Angeles, celebrated the massive participation of his compatriots in his country’s elections abroad and recognized that the expectations of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the entity that did not allow access, were exceeded. from the press to the voting centers.
“It is a first exercise for us [en el exterior] because previously the voting modality was postal,” he told La Opinión. “And in the last two elections there were less than 4,000 votes.”
He assured that this year, almost 200,000 votes have been exercised.
“That says a lot about electronic voting and also about in-person voting,” he indicated. “You have seen it, the centers are packed and people have responded, they wanted to vote and many are already citizens of the United States who have voted for president of this country, but they could not do so for the president of their country of origin.”
The closing of the voting centers was at 5:00 in the afternoon. When the scheduled time arrived, TSE logistics personnel marked the limit of the last person in line who would have the right to vote.
Consul, I want to ask you, why so much disorganization?
Look, there the Supreme Electoral Tribunal is the one that has control of the elections. It is not a matter of the central government, but of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. They have been the ones who have subcontracted a company that is providing the electronic service and logistics at the voting centers.
In addition to the disorganization, why did the phenomenon of misinformation occur and were there trained personnel who responded efficiently to those who were denied the right to vote?
“This is inside the voting centers where the personnel that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal trained and oriented for the 2024 exercise are located.
With this election, what is the message that is sent with this process to the world?
“Wanting is power, and wanting to include your diaspora in the country’s democratic processes is possible. With online votes alone, nearly 200,000 people around the world have participated, logically the majority in the United States, but in remote countries, including Kenya, South Africa or Australia.”