[7] The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front's (FMLN) presidential candidate, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, visited southern California to meet with Salvadoran Americans and tour their communities in August 2013.

[9] Likewise, the 2012 Salvadoran legislative and local elections resulted in a strong showing for the opposition Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) due to the rising crime rates.

[10][2] On 31 July 2013, a professor from the National University of El Salvador presented an argument to the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of a former president's candidacy.

[11] On 6 September, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled that only party flags, not candidates faces, will appear on the ballot in the presidential election.

[12] Quijano said that he would deploy the army to fight street gangs amidst elevated crime in El Salvador.

Sánchez Cerén, on the other hand, said he would forge a political pact in order to pass reforms through a divided Congress that would tackle crime and anemic economic growth.

They have argued that to achieve higher levels of employment these requires expanding public-private partnerships, sponsoring a public development bank, and promoting important industries.

To address the problems of crime and security, the candidates have proposed increasing funding for new police technologies, promoting campaigns against drug abuse, creating education rehabilitation centers for those convicted of minor offenses and drug crimes, and training community peace officers.

[14] Sánchez Cerén was invited as a closing speaker to the FMLN's "Winter Cultural Dialogues," in which he expressed solidarity with the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.

He expressed a desire for an alternative development models, such as the types seen in nations with left-wing governments in South America.

He desires to see the government invest through public-private partnerships in building ports, airports, irrigation systems, railways, and highways to encourage intranational and international.

He has promoted a program called "Semilla Mejorada," or "Improved Seed", which would decrease regulations regarding pesticides, insecticides, and would finance the introduction of newer agricultural equipment.

"[22] The following polls display run-off scenarios that include Antonio Saca, who did not qualify for the second round.

Sánchez Cerén said that he was "open to the participation of different sectors" and would seek to reach out to others to create "a grand national accord;" Quijano, who voted at a centre set-up at a school in western San Salvador, praising the "peaceful elections;" and Saca said that he was "optimistic" while voting.

He also attended a mass earlier on the day at the chapel where Archbishop Óscar Romero was assassinated prior to the Salvadoran Civil War.