1984

January: National Bipartisan Commission on Central America publishes its report

February

Montgomery 1984: "The Electoral Law went into effect on 13 February...The last week in February, the Christian Democrats signed a ‘social pact’ with the Popular Democratic Union (UPD) in which the latter pledged support in exchange for PDC promises to name rural and urban labor representatives to the ministries responsible for the agrarian reform and labor relations. UPD support was important to the PDC because of its ability to mobilize tens of thousands of ‘campesinos’ to vote...In a bombshell announcement, the CCE president asserted that there was substantial fraud in the 1982 election. ‘More than twenty-five percent of the votes,’ he said, were false. Other CCE members gave lower estimates of 15-25 percent. In 1982 there had been charges of fraud, but U.S. ambassador Deane Hinton convinced all the parties to agree not to charge each other since the outcome would not be affected" (page 533).

March 25: Presidential election--first round

Acevedo 1991: Gives number of votes cast, number of valid votes, and number of votes for Duarte and for D’Aubuisson (page 28).

Anderson 1988: Gives percent of vote for top four candidates (page 115).

Arriaza Meléndez 1989: "Elecciones para presidente y vice presidente de la republica del 20 de marzo de 1984: resultados parciales por departamento y por partido, primera vuelta" (page 32).

Benítez Manaut 1990: "Elecciones para presidente y vicepresidente, 25/III/84" (page 80). Gives total vote and percent of vote for each party; numbers of votes that were valid, null, contested, unused, or lost; number of abstentions; and total votes cast.

Chitnis 1984: "Results of the first round, 25 March 1984" (page 980). Gives by party the number and percent of vote won.

CIDAI 1984: "Número y tipos de puestos de votación primera y segunda vueltas electorales, 1984" (page 208). For each round gives by department the number of municipal, departmental, national, and regional voting stations. "Municipios en los que no hubo votación: primera y segunda rondas" (page 213). Gives municipalities by department for each round. "Elecciones presidenciales de El Salvador 25 de marzo de 1984" (page 214). Gives by department the registered voters, votes cast, total ballot boxes, boxes used, boxes nullified "por desorden," boxes nullified because no one voted, municipalities in which votes were recorded or not recorded, and estimates of votes not cast "por desorden" or because of abstention.

Córdova M. 1988: "El Salvador. Elecciones del 25 de marzo de 1984. Porcentaje de votos por partido, según su posición político-ideológico" (page 93). "El Salvador: resultados elecciones para presidente y vicepresidente de la republica. 25 de marzo de 1984" ("anexo no. 1," follows end of article). Gives for each department the votes for eight parties, number of valid votes, null votes, abstentions, contested votes, blank votes, misplaced votes, and total votes.

Eguizábal 1984: "El Salvador: elecciones presidenciales de 1984" (page 32). For the first round election gives for each party the number of votes received and percent this constitutes of total vote.

Eguizábal 1992: Gives first round votes for top three candidates (page 141).

Eguizábal 1992a: Gives percent of vote for top three candidates (page 54). "En la Constitución de 1983 se había abandonado la práctica de que fuera la Asamblea Legislativa la que, a falta de una mayoría de votos, escogiera al presidente y se instituyó una segunda vuelta electoral."

Ellacuría 1984: For PDC gives votes won in first round, percent of valid votes, and compares this to the number and percent of votes won in 1982, and gives municipalities in which the party won or lost (pages 310-311). For ARENA gives votes won in first round, percent of valid votes, and compares this to the number of votes won in 1982 (page 311). For the PCN gives votes won in 1982 and 1984 (page 312).

García 1989: "March 1984 presidential elections results, first round" (page 77). Gives party, votes, and percent of valid votes. Also gives turnout, number of persons who voted, number of valid votes, percent that were invalid, percent that were spoiled, and percent that were blank.

Haggerty 1990: Gives turnout and percent of vote for PDC, PCN, and ARENA (page 162).

Montgomery 1984: "The 1984 elections, like those in 1982, took place in a context fundamentally different from the past in two important respects. First, the elections occurred in a country at war with itself. Second, the elections were held, not on the initiative of the Salvadorans, but at the behest of a U.S. administration anxious to demonstrate to the Congress and the people that El Salvador is in transition to ‘democracy’" (page 532). Gives number of ballot boxes in the country at the municipal, departmental, national, and regional levels (page 533) (Also discussed in Montgomery 1985 page 473). "1984 Salvadoran presidential elections" (page 536) (Also reproduced in Montgomery 1985 page 475). "First round, 25 March 1984" gives for all parties the number and percent of valid votes received; gives numbers of null votes, abstentions, and defaced ballots; and total votes.

Montgomery 1995: Gives percent of vote won by top three parties and their candidates (page 182).

1984 presidential elections in El Salvador 1984: "(A) little over 1,400,000 people voted...Voting totals in 1984 were decreased significantly in the departments in which the war was most active...Results by party totals paralleled the 1982 results. The ARENA percentage was almost exactly what it had been, just under 30 percent of the valid votes. PDC increased its percentage to 43 percent, while PCN went up slightly to a little over 19 percent. The most notable fall-off was for AD" (page 19).

Pickering 1984: Describes voter registration process and procedures to be followed in the upcoming election (page 1).

Resultados oficiales 1984: "Cómputos oficiales, 25 de marzo de 1984, elecciones para presidente y vice-presidente de la república" (page 365). Gives for each department the votes for eight parties, total valid votes, null votes, abstentions, contested votes, unused ballots, lost ballots, and total votes for the department and country in each category.

Ribera Sala 1996: "No sería sino hasta las elecciones de 1984, en que el PDC, con un gran apoyo para su campaña por parte de una superpotencia extranjera (Estados Unidos), tuvo un claro y rotundo triunfo con el que, aparentemente, podría implementar sus políticas" (page 36).

Torres Rivas 1987: "El Salvador. Elecciones presidenciales en 1984--marzo 1984" (page 185). Gives by party the total votes, percent of valid votes, percent of total votes, and percent of registered voters. Gives the same information for valid, null, blank, and invalid votes, total votes, number and percent of electorate who abstained, and total registered voters.

May 6: Presidential election--second round (Duarte / PDC)

Anderson 1988: Gives number of votes for each candidate (page 116).

Arriaza Meléndez 1989: "Elecciones para presidente y vicepresidente de la republica del 7 de mayo de 1984: resultados parciales por departamento y por partido, segunda vuelta" (page 34).

Benítez Manaut 1990: "Elecciones para presidente y vicepresidente, 6/V/84" (page 80). Gives total vote and percent of vote for ARENA and PDC; numbers of votes that were valid, null, contested, unused, or lost; number of abstentions; and total votes cast.

Chitnis 1984: "Results of the second round, 6 May 1984" (page 980). Gives number of votes and percent of vote for each candidate.

CIDAI 1984: "Elecciones presidenciales de El Salvador 6 de mayo de 1984" (page 215). Gives by department the difference in votes cast between the first and second rounds, votes cast, total ballot boxes, boxes used, boxes nullified "por desorden," boxes nullified because no one voted, municipalities in which votes were recorded or not recorded, and estimates of votes not cast "por desorden" or because of abstention.

Córdova M. 1988: "El Salvador: resultados elecciones para presidente y vicepresidente de la republica. 6 de mayo de 1984" ("anexo no. 2," follows end of article). Gives for each department the votes for PDC and ARENA, number of valid votes, null votes, abstentions, contested votes, blank votes, misplaced votes, and total votes.

Eguizábal 1992: Gives percent of vote won by Duarte in the second round (page 141).

Haggerty 1990: Gives percent of vote for each candidate (page 162).

García 1989: "Geographic breakdown of 1984 runoff election" (page 77). Gives by department the number of votes for each candidate.

Karl 1986: "The chief result of the 1984 election...was a major escalation of the war...Duarte’s victory marked a shift of government power from the extreme right...to the center right. This shift...created a new image of the Salvadoran government, one which could justify growing U.S. involvement" (page 26).

Montgomery 1984: "1984 Salvadoran presidential elections" (page 536) (Also reproduced in Montgomery 1985 page 475). "Second round, 6 May 1984" gives for two candidates the number and percent of valid votes received; gives numbers of null votes, abstentions, and defaced ballots; and total votes.

Montgomery 1995: Gives percent of vote won by each candidate (page 182).

1984 presidential elections in El Salvador 1984: "(A)lmost as many people voted in May as in March. Duarte won as expected, but with less than 54 percent of the vote" (page 20).

Resultados oficiales 1984: "Cómputos oficiales, 6 de mayo de 1984, elecciones para presidente y vice-presidente de la república" (page 366). Gives for each department the votes for two parties, total valid votes, null votes, abstentions, contested votes, unused ballots, lost ballots, and total votes for the department and country in each category.

Torres Rivas 1987: "El Salvador. Elecciones presidenciales en 1984--mayo 1984" (page 186). Gives by party the total votes, percent of valid votes, percent of total votes, and percent of registered voters. Gives the same information for valid, null, blank, and invalid votes, total votes, number and percent of electorate who abstained, and total registered voters.

October 15: La Palma talks between the government and the FMLN

Karl 1986: "Pushed from all sides the [PDC] party leadership began to insist that negotiating with the opposition was the only viable means of consolidating future electoral support...Duarte understood that the Salvadoran military and the Reagan administration--the two leading forces historically opposed to negotiations--needed him in order to extract aid from a skeptical U.S. Congress...After surprisingly little consultation with the U.S., Duarte gambled on his own indispensability; in a dramatic speech to the United Nations, he invited the FDR-FMLN to the town of La Palma to dialogue with his government" (page 30). "Besides refusing to support negotiations, the [U.S.] administration encouraged an escalation of the war in the days following the La Palma talks and sought to weaken the political forces calling for dialogue" (page 31).

1985

March 31: Congressional and municipal elections

Acevedo 1991: Gives votes cast; valid votes; percent of vote for PDC, ARENA, and PCN; seats won by PDC, ARENA, PCN, PAISA, and AD; and fact that PDC won a strong majority of town councils (page 29).

Arriaza Meléndez 1989: "Elecciones de diputados a Asamblea Legislativa: resultados por departamento" (page 36). Gives by department the votes for each party and the total votes. "Diputados electos" (page 39) gives the total seats won by each party. "Elecciones para concejos municipales: resultados por departamento" (page 37). Gives by department the votes for each party, the valid and null votes, the abstentions, contested votes, and total votes cast. "Concejos municipales electos" (page 41) gives total won by each party.

Benítez Manaut 1990: "Resultados elecciones para diputados, 31/III/85" (page 81). Gives total vote and percent of vote for all parties; numbers of votes that were valid, null, contested, unused, or lost; number of abstentions; and total votes cast.

Central America report February 5, 1988: Gives seats won by PDC, ARENA, PCN, PAISA, and the "Democratic Action Party" (page 36).

Córdova M. 1988: "El Salvador. Elecciones del 31 de marzo de 1985. Resultados por partido o coaliciones" (page 94). "El Salvador: resultados elecciones para diputados. 31 de marzo de 1985" ("anexo no. 3," follows end of article). Gives for each department the votes for nine parties, number of valid votes, null votes, abstentions, contested votes, misplaced ballots, unused ballots, and total votes.

El Salvador: elections 1994: Calderón Sol elected to the Assembly (page 18).

Eguizábal 1992: "PDC won a majority of the mayoralties, as well as an absolute majority (thirty-three seats out of sixty) in the Legislative Assembly" (page 141). Gives number of seats won by ARENA, PCN, PAISA, and AD.

García 1989: Gives voter turnout and number of municipal governments elected by Christian Democratic party (page 78). "1985 legislative election results" (page 79). Gives party, number of votes, percent of votes, and number of seats won.

Haggerty 1990: Gives seats won by each party (page 163). "Arena and the PCN joined as a two-party coalition for these elections in an effort to secure a conservative majority in the assembly. The terms of the coalition, whereby Arena agreed to split evenly the total number of seats won, resulted in a political embarrassment for D’Aubuisson’s party, which took 29 percent of the total vote but was awarded only one more seat (thirteen to twelve) than the PCN, which had drawn only 8 percent of the vote" (page 163).

Karl 1986: The PDC "gained a small majority in the 60-seat legislature, thus overturning the right-wing’s veto power, and it won control of over 200 of El Salvador’s 262 municipalities" (page 32).

Lungo Uclés 1996: "The PDC won a clear victory in the elections of March 1985" (page 128). Gives number of seats and percent of municipalities won.

Montes 1988: "Diputados por partido y departamento, elecciones de 1985" (page 182). Gives by department the valid votes, total seats representing that department, electoral quotient, and votes and seats won by PDC, ARENA, and PCN. "Elecciones para diputados, por departamentos, 1985" (page 184). Gives by department valid votes and percent they constitute of total vote, total of abstentions, null votes, contested votes, and missing ballots and percent they constitute of total vote, total who voted, and percent the departmental vote constitutes of the country vote.

Montgomery 1985: "Nonetheless, following a lackluster campaign, and with a significantly lower voter turnout than in 1984, the Christian Democrats on 31 March 1985 confounded all predictions by winning 52 percent of the vote and an absolute majority of 33 seats in the National Assembly. The PDC also took 153 of 262 mayoral races" (page 479).

Montgomery 1995: Gives for the PDC the percent of the vote received, seats won, and mayoralities won (page 196).

Sharpe 1986: "To the surprise of many foreign observers, the Chirstian Democrats, and a small allied party, won an overwhelming victory, increasing their representation from 26 to 34 in the 60-seat Assembly and winning in over 75 percent of the mayoral elections" (page B281).

September: Duarte’s daughter kidnaped by FMLN

October: Twenty-three mayors and President’s daughter are released in exchange for release of 22 FMLN prisoners