Election Day!

Election Day began at 5 A.M. as we waited outside the voting site along with more than 100 volunteers who had come to make democracy happen in El Salvador. Our group of 10 divided into 3 smaller groups to observe in 3 of the 20 voting centers in Illobosco. Warren and I were teamed with a young woman from Sweden....Ida... who is bright, fun, and completely fluent in both English and Spanish as well as numerous Scandinavian and European languages. Our voting center had just 10 tables which made it easy to observe the whole center as well as the one table we each chose to watch intensely. A group of 5 people are the officers of the table and then each party has a vigilante that watches the process on behalf of their party. It makes for a crowded voting area...we had 11 people around my table... but they all worked together diligently from the time they picked up their voting materials until the time they returned those materials 16 hours later.

When the voting center opens for the public the voters must find their name and picture on a list posted near each table.

Then they get in line for the opportunity to cast their vote. After their credentials are scrutinized they receive the ballots and vote in cardboard voting booths nearby. The breeze caused the voting booths to blow over from time to time. After they put their ballots in the cardboard voting boxes they sign the log of voters, have their finger tinted, and get their credentials back. The crowds were heavy in the morning but tapered off in the afternoon.

We stand near the tables and watch most of the day but now and then we just have to take a break and sit down. Because it was a small center we were able to get together to eat and just confer from time to time. There was shade and a breeze so it made for a nice day. Other than a few conflicts now and then and some confusion about the process, voting went smoothly and even the counting went well so the evening ended earlier than most anticipated. Not all voting centers went as smoothly as our center but the election day was mostly calm all over El Salvador.

After the materials had been returned we said goodbye to our new friends at the voting tables and the police that had watched over us all day. It's interesting to contemplate the progress that has been made in the 20 years since the peace accords. Twenty years ago these same people were shooting each other...and yesterday they were trusting in democracy and each other.