Walk through the streets of San Salvador today and you’ll feel it. The heavy, suffocating fear that used to define this city—the "don't look the wrong person in the eye" vibe—is largely gone. It’s been replaced by something else. Some call it hope; others call it a slow-motion car crash for democracy.
When we talk about the El Salvador president election, we aren't just talking about a ballot box. We’re talking about a country that basically decided to trade its constitutional "fine print" for the right to walk to the corner store without getting killed. It’s messy. It’s controversial. And honestly, most of the international headlines are missing the point.
The 85% Question: Why the Landslide Actually Happened
In February 2024, Nayib Bukele didn’t just win. He obliterated the competition. He pulled in roughly 84.6% of the vote. To put that in perspective, the second-place candidate, Manuel Flores from the FMLN, barely scraped together 6%.
You’ve probably heard critics say the election was unconstitutional. They’re right. The Salvadoran constitution literally has articles (like Article 154) that forbid consecutive re-election. But Bukele’s hand-picked Supreme Court reinterpreted those rules in 2021, saying it’s fine as long as the president steps down for six months before the new term.
So, why did people vote for him anyway?
It’s the security, stupid. Before the "state of exception" started in 2022, El Salvador was one of the most violent places on Earth. Now, the homicide rate has plummeted to roughly 1.9 per 100,000 people. For a mother in Soyapango who no longer has to pay "rent" to a gang member just to keep her son alive, a constitutional technicality feels pretty secondary.
The "Invisible" Changes to the Ballot
While everyone was looking at Bukele’s face on the posters, some pretty radical surgery was happening to the electoral system itself. You won't find this mentioned in a lot of quick news bites.
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Just months before the El Salvador president election, the Legislative Assembly—controlled by Bukele's Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) party—passed laws that fundamentally changed how the game is played:
- Shrinking the House: They cut the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly from 84 down to 60.
- Formula Flip: They changed the D'Hondt method for allocating seats, which basically favors the biggest parties and punishes the small ones.
- City Consolidation: They reduced 262 municipalities to just 44.
The result? Bukele’s party walked away with 54 out of 60 seats. The opposition? Basically vaporized. Critics like the Organization of American States (OAS) pointed out that while the voting day was peaceful, the playing field was tilted so far it was practically vertical.
Bitcoin, Debt, and the 2026 Reality Check
If security is Bukele’s strongest card, the economy is his shakiest. You’ve probably seen the memes about "Bitcoin City" and the volcano bonds. But here's the reality: Bitcoin hasn't really "taken off" with the average person on the street.
Recent data from 2025 and early 2026 shows that crypto remittances dropped by over 30%. People still prefer the US Dollar, which has been the legal tender since 2001. More importantly, the IMF has been leaning hard on El Salvador to strip Bitcoin of its legal tender status as a condition for a $1.4 billion lifeline.
Interestingly, by January 2025, the government actually blinked. They made Bitcoin use optional and took it "off the books" for things like tax payments to satisfy the IMF. It was a rare moment where the "world's coolest dictator" (as Bukele once called himself on X) had to play by someone else's rules.
The debt is the real monster under the bed. Public debt is hovering around 89% of GDP. That means nearly 30 cents of every dollar the government spends is just going to pay off interest. You can't run a country on "vibes" and cool drone shots forever if you can't pay the light bill.
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Is This Still a Democracy?
That depends on who you ask at the pupusería.
If you ask a human rights observer from Amnesty International, they'll point to the 85,000+ people arrested under the state of exception, many without due process. They'll tell you about the "quotas" police allegedly have to fill and the innocent people caught in the dragnet.
But if you ask the average voter? They’ll point to the park that used to be a gang graveyard and is now full of kids playing soccer at 9:00 PM.
In late 2025, the Assembly took it even further, passing a reform to allow for indefinite re-election and extending terms to six years. We are moving toward a "one-party" state model that looks more like Mexico under the old PRI or even Nicaragua, though Bukele’s fans would find that comparison offensive.
What to Watch Next
The El Salvador president election wasn't the end of the story; it was the beginning of a new, much more consolidated era. If you’re trying to keep a pulse on where this is going, stop looking at the polls—his approval is still high, around 90%—and start looking at these three things:
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- The IMF Deal: If the money doesn't flow, the social programs and the flashy infrastructure projects (like the new National Library) start to crumble.
- The Prison System: CECOT (the "mega-prison") is a pressure cooker. Any major riot or evidence of mass human rights failures could break the spell of the "security miracle."
- The 2027 Midterms: Even though the next presidential vote isn't until 2029 (or 2030 under new rules), the local municipal shifts will show if people are getting tired of the high cost of living.
Next Steps for You:
If you're planning to travel to El Salvador or invest there, you need to look beyond the Bitcoin hype. Check the current status of the "State of Exception" via the US State Department travel advisories, as constitutional rights are still technically suspended. For those tracking the economy, follow the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador (BCR) reports rather than social media posts, as the fiscal deficit is the most honest metric of the country's long-term stability.