El Salvador’s Bukele heads for re-election but troubled tally delays results

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and his wife Gabriela Rodriguez wave to supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace in San Salvador, El Salvador, after polls closed (Salvador Melendez/AP)

Voters in El Salvador appeared to give Nayib Bukele a second term as president, but a troubled vote tally delayed results in an election that for many hinged on the trade-off of curtailed civil liberties for security in a country once terrorised by gangs.

Problems with the vote count stalled the effort late on Sunday with ballots from only 31% of polling places tallied, a percentage that remained stuck in place on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s preliminary results website on Monday morning.