FMLN hits political stride before runoff

I have a new post up at the World Politics Review on El Salvador Elections Show FMLN Hitting Its Political Stride Before Runoff (the direct link should work - let me know if it does not).

With five weeks before the runoff, the FMLN and ARENA will now focus on motivating their voters to head to the polls once again and to lobby for the support of the 300,000 Salvadorans who voted for Saca. While at this point it is still possible for ARENA to make up the 10-point difference, the FMLN is the clear favorite heading into the second round. Though somewhat marginalized in the Funes administration, a second round victory would provide Sanchez Ceren and the FMLN with an opportunity to advance their political agenda.

One thing that we were not able to change was yesterday's TSE's news that turnout was actually 63 percent, not the 53 percent as initially reported. The original estimate included 100k who were registered but were out of the country and another 540k whose DUI's had expired.