2023-06-14 07:03:19
84 years ago there was no territorial division in El Salvador.
In the elections of March 3, 2024, Salvadorans will be able to elect only 44 mayors, after the deputies of the Legislative Assembly approved, with 67 votes, a territorial restructuring that groups the 262 municipalities, today known as districts, to executive request.
The new distribution is based on the 14 articles of the Special Law for Municipal Restructuring, which was exposed in the legislative plenary session in session number 110.
Eight days after the Legislative Decree is published in the Official Gazette, the municipalities become districts and will be grouped by region in each of the 14 departments, based on the four cardinal points: North, South, East and West.
This law will become effective eight days after its official publication.
The benefits
The new territorial division will help improve the administration of the budget of the municipalities, this will allow them to have more resources and distribute them in a manner focused on the needs of each sector.
The now districts will not lose their cultural identity, traditions or the administrative offices in which they serve the population.
The municipal modification will not affect the extension of birth certificates, municipal tax rates or other services currently provided by the commune.
The information of the Unique Identity Document (DUI) will not be changed, only when they are issued for the first time, for renewal or for replacement.
“No territory is going to lose its identity, the procedures for birth certificates, payment of taxes and other procedures will continue to be carried out where it currently goes and which is known to this day as the mayor’s office”
The Court of Accounts of the Republic (CCR) will do a better audit of the taxes in each district. Bureaucracy will be reduced, there will be cost savings for the State, service to citizens will be improved and transparency and accountability will be promoted.
The distribution of councilors
Under this modality, and according to article 4 of the law, the distribution of councilors will be as follows:
Two councilors or councilors in municipalities with up to 200,000 inhabitants; six councilors or councilors in places that have more than that figure up to 400,000 inhabitants; while there would be eight in municipalities with more than 400,000 inhabitants.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) must grant the number of these elements according to the last population census and will notify the legally registered political parties, for this process the deputies also admitted a transitory decree so that the term can be extended to three days.
According to this, there will be 40 councils with 10 members; two, with 14 members; and two councils, located in the department of San Salvador, with 16 members.
44 mayors, 44 trustees, 372 councilors and this would make a total of 460 officials throughout the country, which indicates a considerable significant reduction compared to the almost 3,000 that currently exist.
On the other hand, the TSE has reiterated that the restructuring of municipalities will not affect the calendar prepared for the 2024 elections and will not generate changes in the implementation of residential voting. Voters will continue to vote in the centers that have traditionally been assigned to them.
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