Votes by El Salvador’s diaspora surge, likely boosting President Bukele in elections

By YOLANDA MAGAÑA and MEGAN JANETSKY
Associated Press

SAN SALVADOR (AP) — A record-breaking 51,226 Salvadorans living abroad voted in El Salvador’s upcoming presidential election in the first three days after the country opened overseas electronic voting for the first time, two electoral officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday. The overseas vote is expected to help President Nayib Bukele, whose administration launched the Internet voting system as he seeks re-election. Bukele, who won by a margin of over 600,000 in the last elections in 2019, was already expected to win. The number of twelve times the number of people who voted outside of the country in the entire 2019 presidential elections, when only 3,808 Salvadorans living abroad voted.