SOME voters sketched, scratched and scribbled on their ballots. The cleverest crossed out letters from the voting instructions to form dirty words. Photos of their handiwork appeared on Twitter on March 4th as Salvadoreans voted in municipal and legislative elections. One in ten voters defaced their ballots or left them blank. In a country where voting is obligatory, a record 58% stayed at home.
The right-wing opposition party, the Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena), had a clear lead in valid votes. It won nine out of 14 major mayorships, including San Salvador, the national capital, and 37 of 84 seats in the national assembly. Arena’s chairman said its success was a prelude to victory in next year’s presidential election.
In fact, the election was a repudiation of the main parties, both of which are tainted by corruption. The real winner was a politician who was not running, belongs to no party and encouraged voters to spoil their ballots: Nayib Bukele, the outgoing mayor of San Salvador. He is now the front-runner for...Continue reading
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