El Salvador prosecutor investigates alleged election irregularities

El Salvador's top prosecutor said on Thursday that an investigation was underway into alleged irregularities during the nation's presidential and legislative elections earlier this month. Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado told journalists that the investigation had kicked off the day after the Feb. 4 elections.

El Salvador's top prosecutor said on Thursday that an investigation was underway into alleged irregularities during the nation's presidential and legislative elections earlier this month.

Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado told journalists that the investigation had kicked off the day after the Feb. 4 elections. "We're going to try and find out what happened," he said. Earlier in the day, electoral judge Guillermo Wellman said in an interview with local media that there had been a "logisitcal IT failure" during voting and a "boycott" against the electoral court, but did not give more detail.

"We are collecting all of the pertinent evidence and in due course we will carry out the investigation and provide the results," Delgado said. On Thursday, President Nayib Bukele received his credential to serve as president for five more years.

Salvadoran electoral authorities confirmed Bukele's win two weeks after elections were held with almost 85% of the vote. Opposition parties had cited "anomolies" in the voting and vote-counting process, though the electoral court later confirmed Bukele's party's supermajority in the legislature.

During his first term, Bukele used his New Ideas party's congressional majority to pack courts with loyalists and overhaul state institutions, paving the way for him to run for a second term despite a constitutional ban on re-election.