Photo-Finish in El Salvador’s Presidential Contest
(Pending a possible recount).
Via the BBC: Salvadorean ex-rebel Sanchez Ceren wins vote – officials
Former left-wing rebel Salvador Sanchez Ceren has won a tight presidential run-off election, El-Salvador’s electoral tribunal has said.
But his rival has the right to appeal and officials say a final declaration cannot yet be made.
Conservative candidate Norman Quijano had earlier called for a new poll after preliminary results indicated a margin of victory of fewer than 7,000 votes.
[…]
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced on Thursday that Mr Sanchez Ceren, a member of the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN), had won 50.11% of the vote after a manual count.
Mr Quijano, of the conservative Arena party, won 49.89%, the election body said.
The FMLN fought in a brutal civil war against the Salvadoran state from the early 1980s until peace accords in 1992. After that time the organization made the successful transition from guerrilla movement to political party.
There is likely to be a fight over the results,
On Monday, the president of the Arena party, Jorge Velado, told reporters he had "proof" that his party had won the presidential election.
