Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in El Salvador on 28 February 2027, three years after the 2024 presidential election. It will occur with concurrent legislative and municipal elections. In July 2025, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador voted to move the date of the next presidential election from 2029 to 2027. It also approved several constitutional amendments, among them, the abolition of presidential term limits and the increase of presidential term lengths from five to six years.
, eleven political parties are eligible to participate in the election. Four partiesâÂÂFarabundo MartàNational Liberation Front (FMLN), the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), and Solidary Force (FS)âÂÂhave confirmed they will participate in the election, while the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and Vamos (V) have announced they will not run a candidate.
Nayib Bukele became President of El Salvador on 1 June 2019 after winning that year's presidential election. Nuevas Ideas, Bukele's political party, won the 2021 legislative election in a landslide and used its supermajority in the Legislative Assembly to replace the five magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice's Constitutional Court. In 2022, Bukele initiated a nationwide gang crackdown that has resulted in over 84,200 arrests and has been accused of human rights violations and secret negotiations with gangs. As a part of the crackdown, he opened the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a prison with a capacity of 40,000 inmates. Bukele has been described by journalists as an authoritarian and an autocrat, yet he also holds approval ratings ranging in the 80s and 90s.
Under Bukele, El Salvador has experienced democratic backsliding. In 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the incumbent president was eligible to run for re-election immediately, overturning a 2014 ruling that held that immediate re-election was unconstitutional. The following year, Bukele announced his intention to run for re-election in the 2024 presidential election. Opposition politicians criticized the ruling and Bukele's seeking re-election as unconstitutional. Bukele won re-election with almost 85 percent of the vote in a landslide victory and his second term began on 1 June 2024. Nuevas Ideas won 54 of the Legislative Assembly's 60 seats in concurrent legislative elections.
On 31 July 2025, the Legislative Assembly voted to approve several amendments to the constitution of El Salvador. Among the amendments included the abolish presidential term limits and the increase of presidential term lengths from 5 to 6 years. The Legislative Assembly also voted to abolish the two-round system in favor of first-past-the-post and moved the date of the next presidential election from 2029 to 2027, bringing the presidential election cycle in line with the three-year legislative and municipal election cycle. The latter reform will end Bukele's second term on 1 June 2027, two years ahead of the original date of 1 June 2029. Another amendment enabled the sitting president to seek re-election without needing to take a leave of absence six months before the next presidential term begins. In total, five articles of the constitution were amended or eliminated.
The vote was split along partisan lines: Bukele's 57 allies voted in favor of the constitutional reforms and the 3 members of the opposition voted against them. Ana Figueroa, who proposed the reforms, argued that term limits historically were allowed for most elected offices without restrictions with the only exception being the presidency and that Salvadorans have a right to determine how long elected officials should remain in office. Suecy Callejas, the vice president of the Legislative Assembly, stated that "power has returned to the only place that it truly belongs [...] to the Salvadoran people". Marcela Villatoro, a deputy of the opposition Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), remarked that "today, democracy has died in El Salvador". Claudia Ortiz, a deputy of Vamos, described the reforms as "an abuse of power and a caricature of democracy". Carlos GarcÃÂa Saade and Manuel Flores, the leaders of ARENA and the Farabundo MartÃÂ National Liberation Front (FMLN), respectively, both criticized the reforms. Meanwhile, Xavier Zablah Bukele, the leader of Nuevas Ideas, supported Bukele remaining in office for a third term. Juanita Goebertus, the director of Human Rights Watch's Americas division, warned that El Salvador "is following the same path as Venezuela" (""). At the time of the reforms, Nicaragua and Venezuela were the only other Latin American countries to allow indefinite re-election.
On 2 August, Bukele posted on X accusing critics of holding a "double standard" and arguing that indefinite re-election should be allowed in El Salvador as it is allowed for the heads of government of "90% of developed countries". The United States Department of State backed the constitutional reforms, remarking in a statement that "it is up to them to decide how their country should be governed". Ortiz filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of Justice on 8 August to declare the constitutional amendments that increased presidential term lengths and abolished term limits to be unconstitutional. Villatoro criticized the lawsuit, arguing that it "would ultimately endorse" ("") the reforms as the same Supreme Court justices enabled Bukele's first re-election.
In February 2026, Vice President Félix Ulloa defended indefinite re-election, arguing that it allowed people to "make decisions freely, directly, democratically, and securely" (""). Ulloa further claimed that the Legislative Assembly removed constitutional term limits due to Bukele's landslide victory in 2024.
A presidential election was initially scheduled to be held in 2029, five years after the 2024 presidential election, but the Legislative Assembly voted in 2025 to reschedule the election for 2027. The election is scheduled to occur on 28 February 2027 with concurrent legislative and municipal elections. Salvadorans outside of the country will be able to vote online from 30 January to 28 February. , there are 6,477,745 registered voters, of which, 5,533,061 reside in the country and live 944,684 abroad. Salvadorans have until 29 November 2026 to be registered to vote.
Salvadorans will elect a president and a vice president on a joint-ticket. All candidates must be Salvadoran citizens by birth and at least 30 years old. Presidential and vice presidential candidates must be affiliated with political parties registered with the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) in order to participate in the election. To win, a candidate needs a simple majority. FMLN election analysis director Irving Sorto questioned if the election's conduct would be free and fair due to the continued implementation of the state of exception during the gang crackdown. On 2 December 2025, the Legislative Assembly approved a US$172.1 million budget for the 2027 election.
Political parties must be registered with the TSE in order to participate in the 2027 presidential elections. , eleven political parties are eligible to participate in the election. New political parties have until 4 April to petition the TSE for registration and until 31 August to be fully registered. The following table shows the eleven political parties that are eligible to register candidates with the TSE and whether or not they plan to register presidential and vice presidential candidates.
The following individuals are potential presidential candidates who have expressed interest in running or who have been mentioned by the media as potentially launching a campaign.
The following individuals have declined to run as a presidential candidate.
Political parties have until 7 April 2026 to announce their presidential and vice presidential primary elections and until 29 July to hold them. The parties will then have until 19 November to register their presidential and vice presidential candidates with the TSE. Citizen Action, a non-governmental organization, will monitor the primary elections. The official campaigning period sanctioned by the TSE will span from 27 October 2026 to 24 February 2027.
In a 2024 interview with Time, Bukele stated that he would not seek a third term in 2029 (before the election date was moved to 2027). Although Bukele declined to run in the next election, The Economist speculated immediately after Bukele's re-election that he could seek to run for a third term as he remarked that the constitution did not "currently" allow for a third presidential term. The July 2025 constitutional reforms made Bukele eligible to run for re-election in 2027. In December 2025, Bukele told Spanish YouTuber TheGrefg in an interview that he would like to govern El Salvador for "ten more years" (""). If Bukele wins re-election in 2027 and completes his third term, he would become the longest serving president in Salvadoran history, surpassing Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández MartÃÂnez who served for twelve years between 1931 and 1944.
In February 2026, Ulloa told a Spanish journalist that he was unsure if he would seek re-election to the vice presidency, adding that "I imagine so, otherwise I would be letting the people down" ("").
On 3 August 2025, Flores, who was the FMLN's 2024 presidential candidate, called on FMLN party members to prepare to campaign for the 2027 election. He stated that he was campaigning to "recover democracy" (""). Flores has not announced if he will attempt another presidential campaign in 2027. On 7 December, Flores announced that the FMLN will participate in the 2027 election. He stated that the party is open to forming a coalition to defeat Bukele but ruled out forming a coalition with ARENA, describing such a coalition as "impossible". Flores has announced that he will lead the FMLN's 2027 electoral campaign.
On 11 August 2025, Francisco Lira (an ARENA deputy in the Legislative Assembly) called on ARENA to not participate in the presidential election as it would "support unconstitutional re-election" ("") and called on Salvadorans to spoil their vote, but ARENA's National Executive Council (COENA) stated that the party will participate. Saade confirmed ARENA's participation in September, stating that the party had "cleaned house" (""). Joel Sánchez, ARENA's 2024 presidential candidate, remarked on the Las Cosas Como Son show in February 2026 that he believes Bukele will win re-election and described ARENA's leadership as "disappearing".
On 25 August 2025, Guillermo Gallegos, the vice president of the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), announced in an interview that GANA would run a presidential candidate in 2027. He added that GANA's goal in running a presidential candidate is to support Bukele by "legitimizing the electoral process" ("") as he believed that "there is no one today who can beat [Bukele]" (""). In a later interview, Gallegos stated that another goal in running a candidate is to prevent ARENA and the FMLN from nominating a magistrate to the TSE. Three of the five TSE magistrates are nominated by the three parties with the most votes in a presidential election, and Gallegos wants GANA to nominate one of the three to support Bukele.
Gallegos has stated that GANA would support Bukele if he ran for re-election and that he himself will not run for president.
On 17 August 2025, Ortiz told Telenoticias Megavisión that Vamos was evaluating whether or not to participate in the 2027 presidential election as "[the government] just changed the rules" (""). In February 2026, Ortiz stated that the party was interested in nominating a presidential candidate.
On 6 March 2026, Vamos leader Cesia Rivas stated announced that Vamos will participate in the legislative and municipal elections but that it would evaluate whether or not it would participate in the presidential election. On 16 March, Rivas announced that Vamos would not participate in the presidential election, stating that "we cannot legitimize an election that is clearly unconstitutional" (""). She added that the party would solely focus on the legislative and municipal elections.
On 6 March 2026, Nelson de la Cruz Alvarado, the judicial affairs secretary of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), announced that the PDC will not present a presidential candidate. He stated that the reason was because the party considered Bukele's high popularity to be an indicator that it was not the correct time for the party to launch a presidential campaign.
In March 2026, National Coalition Party (PCN) leader Manuel RodrÃÂguez stated that the PCN was evaluating whether or not it would participate in the 2027 presidential election.
Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Gerardo Awad attempted a presidential campaign with the Salvadoran Independent Party (PAIS) but ultimately withdrew his candidacy. He announced that he would prepare for a new campaign in 2029 (before the election date was moved to 2027). PAIS itself has not announced its participation in the 2027 presidential election. As PAIS did not participate in the 2024 elections, it must participate in the 2027 elections in order to avoid cancelation by the TSE in accordance with the Law of Political Parties.
Solidary Force (FS) will hold its presidential primary election on 29 July 2026.
The Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity (FPS) has not announced its participation in the 2027 presidential election.
Salvadoran Democracy (DS) has stated that it will prioritize the on the legislative elections during the 2027 but has not ruled out participation in the presidential election. As DS did not participate in the 2024 elections, it must participate in the 2027 elections in order to avoid cancelation by the TSE in accordance with the Law of Political Parties.
In October 2024, politician Ronal Umaña established the Cambio Total political party. Umaña has called for ARENA, the FMLN, and Vamos to unite "against the dictatorship" (""), potentially under the banner of Cambio Total. He has also called for the need to "found a new republic" ("") after Bukele leaves office. In August 2025, Umaña proposed nominating La Prensa Gráfica contributor José Miguel FortÃÂn Magaña as a presidential candidate and economist Evelyn MartÃÂnez as a vice presidential candidate.