Participation of Salvadorans from the Central Valley exceeded expectations in presidential election

Neither the rain, nor the cold, nor the distance stopped hundreds of Salvadorans from the Central Valley from going to the Consulate of El Salvador in Fresno on Sunday to vote during the presidential elections.

Participation by Salvadorans at the polling site exceeded expectations as many Salvadorans wanted to ensure their votes were heard even though Nayib Bukele was expected to easily win another five-year term as president.

With no official results, Bukele declared Sunday night that he had won with 85% of the vote.

Jehu Melqui Calderón, 62, traveled from Modesto to Fresno to vote for the first time in his country’s elections.

Calderón, who arrived in the United States in 1980, said he was moved by “that enthusiasm of people wanting to make their vote count to make a change in our country, El Salvador.”

“First time I’ve actually been interested,” Calderón said, adding that, over the years, his relatives who still live in El Salvador have kept him up to date with the situation in the country. “And with this new president who came in, who is Bukele, things improved in a period of 3, 4 years and the change was notable for them.

“And we in the United States have also seen the difference because those of us who go to Salvador the last few times we have returned have seen that everything is more progressive. The atmosphere on the street and the safety on the street are different compared to previous years. That’s what caught my attention the most to get involved in this,” Calderón said.

Among the candidates is the current president Bukele, who won the presidency in 2019.

The winning candidate has to get a majority of the votes or he will go to a runoff in March, but that is unlikely because Bukele is overwhelmingly favored.

Salvadorans went out to vote

Calderón said that Salvadorans like him who have been in the United States for a long time have been interested in participating in the elections because “we have clearly seen the change in El Salvador. We get more excited because we love our country.”

The line of Salvadorans waiting their turn to enter the consulate and vote went around the block throughout the morning and midday.

“We are expecting fewer people, but happily it is packed. There are a lot of people from all over the central valley, from the northern part to the southern part of Bakersfield who have come very early,” said Jason Manuel Castro Olivares, consul general of El Salvador in Fresno.

“We did not expect such an influx and we are very happy that this is the case because this is a right that people have not had for many years,” said Castro Olivares. “Imagine people here who have spent 20, 25 years without being able to vote. This is the first time and as you have seen, in the rain, in inclement weather, be it Sunday, whatever the time, here they have come to vote and they have left very happy.”

Juan Francisco Alvarenga and his wife Guadalupe Martínez Alvarenga, who live in Fresno, arrived to vote early.

Guadalupe Martínez Alvarenga said she felt “very happy” to participate in the elections.

“First time, first time in my life that I have voted,” said Juan Francisco Alvarenga.

Ena López, from Firebaugh, said that she arrived at 7 in the morning and the line to vote was already very long.

López, who has lived outside his country for almost 40 years, said that it was “a great joy to come to vote, they allowed us to come to vote and since we have seen many changes there in El Salvador, we do not want it to change.”, which remains the same as it is right now.”

In-person electronic voting

Although the consulate was scheduled to open at 7 a.m., there was a slight delay and they opened a few minutes later, according to Castro Olivares.

Castro Olivares said that the voting center at the consulate was scheduled to close at 5 p.m., ensuring that “if people line up or are here before 5, then we are going to leave until the last person votes.”

“If the person comes after 5 p.m., then they are no longer going to vote,” said Castro Olivares.

“According to our law, our regulations, if the person enters the voting center before closing, they will be attended to, and they will be able to vote. In this case, what we are going to do as the voting center is the consulate, the last person in line, well we are going to give him a number. And well, we are going to make everyone come here to the consulate and everyone who is inside is going to vote,” Casto Olivares said.

The modalities of voting abroad for Salvadorans included: remote internet voting when Salvadorans have a United States or foreign address on their DUI (Unique Identity Document) and in-person electronic voting for people who have a passport or who have their DUI with an address in El Salvador, are the ones who are at the consulate waiting to vote.

Castro Olivares said that the consulate also had a place to serve people who had to vote online and thus help them vote online since, Although online voting has lasted almost a month since January 6, it will close at 5 p.m. El Salvador time or 3 p.m. California time.

“There is a large part that has already voted, another large part that comes to ask how to vote if it is their turn online or in person. And others who already know, are already coming straight to line up and are the ones who have been here waiting for a few moments for them to line up,” Castro Olivares said.

Wearing a transparent poncho to protect himself from the rain, Dimas Cañas, who lives in Stockton, waited patiently to vote for the first time.

“I was thinking about San Francisco, but there is more volume of people there; That’s why I preferred to come here, to Fresno, although there was a lot of rain and it was quite difficult to drive, almost 2 hours driving, but it’s worth it to come, to make the sacrifice,” said Cañas, adding that one of the things that excites him most about to exercise his vote is to see the changes in his country.

“It’s my first time voting. I am already 50 years old. So, following the news in El Salvador and seeing all the changes that the president and the current government are making, is the reason that now for the first time I have decided to exercise the vote and therefore contribute with my vote to the changes in El Salvador,” said Cañas.

“What is happening in El Salvador is so good that I don’t care if I have to endure water all the time, and here we are until we get to where we have to vote.”

They voted massively

Many Salvadorans decided to vote at the consulate in Fresno regardless of the distance, just like Calderón and Cañas.

Martha Cruz de Escobar traveled from Bakersfield with her husband José Escobar and several family members to vote in Fresno in person.

“I want my vote not to require a good president, who is the one who in the future will give the new generations a better country than the one we have,” said Cruz Escobar, who has lived in the United States for 34 years and want to exercise his right to vote.

Gilmar Pérez, 47, drove from Stockton to vote in Fresno to re-elect the current president.

“Bukele has done things, we have noticed that he is a good option,” said Pérez. “I was able to do it, let’s say, on the Internet, but I wanted to experience, let’s say, in person what it’s like to vote and we could see that everything was very easy, they made everything easy.”

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador, the entity in charge of the elections, had an estimate for the Fresno consulate of about 800 people who could vote, and they estimated that half, about 400 people, would come to vote, according to Castro Olivares.

“I think about 300 people have already voted and there are maybe another 300 or 400 more outside waiting to vote, so it has far exceeded our expectations and that is better for us,” Castro Olivares said halfway through the voting day. “The more people vote, that makes us think that in the next election we will be much better prepared to serve more people, if possible so that people can exercise their right.”

Although El Salvador is a small country with a third of the population living abroad, Castro Olivares said that previously voting abroad was so low because it was difficult, complicated, and people did not vote abroad.

“Now that this right is given to people, you see that they are responding, and that is why they have come so massively to vote,” said Castro Olivares. “To feel Salvadoran is also to come on voting day to see what happens, to choose the future of their country. And that is what the people are doing, which, for many years, 20 years or 15 years that they have been here, they have not been able to do.”