Seven parties ran presidential candidates; incumbent president Nayib Bukele ran for re-election with Nuevas Ideas,[d] the political party he established in 2018, while the political opposition's presidential candidates were: Joel Sánchez of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), Manuel Flores of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), Luis Parada of Nuestro Tiempo, Javier Renderos of Solidary Force, Marina Murillo of the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity (FPS).

These declarations came before the TSE made an official statement regarding the final results because vote counting for both the presidential and legislative elections was delayed due to technical problems.

[8][9] Bukele's election is considered one of the most impactful events in Salvadoran political history, with many politicians and journalists described it as breaking the country's two-party system.

[e][50] Bukele has been compared to Juan Orlando Hernández in Honduras and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, who used the Supreme Court and constitutional reforms, respectively, in their own countries to allow themselves to run for re-election.

[51][52][53] According to a poll conducted by the Francisco Gavidia University (UFG) in October 2022, 76 percent of respondents believed that if Bukele were re-elected in 2024, he would run for a third term in the 2029 presidential election.

[71] On 28 November, Bukele announced he would ask for a leave of absence from the Legislative Assembly on 1 December to relieve him of his duties as president to focus on his presidential election campaign.

[72] Bukele was granted a leave of absence on 30 November and Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara, his private secretary, was named as presidential designee;[73] she assumed office the following day and her appointment was criticized as unconstitutional by analysts and lawyers.

[78] Lawyers and electoral experts alleged that the updated law would be used against those who opposed Bukele's re-election campaign; Eduardo Escobar and Ruth Eleonora López, the chief of anti-corruption committee for Cristosal [es], claimed that it was intimidation and a threat.

[f][108] Various economists, lawyers, and politicians argued that the proposed reduction was an attempt to consolidate power through gerrymandering,[109] would grant Nuevas Ideas an electoral advantage,[110] and would lead to data manipulation to favor the government.

Marleni Funes, an FMLN deputy, claimed that Bukele wanted to guarantee his grip on power and that every Salvadoran knows that fewer resources would arrive when the municipalities were reduced.

[235] After Bukele initiated the registration process, he addressed a crowd of supporters outside the TSE building who were chanting phrases such as "five more [years]", "re-election", and "not one step back".

[237] Bukele called on his supporters to win a three-fourths majority for Nuevas Ideas in the Legislative Assembly in order to allow him to maintain the gang crackdown during his second term.

[240][241] In a message posted on social media, Bukele claimed that people who continue to believe in and vote for the opposition "does not see, because they do not want to see; they will not change" ("no ve, porque no quiere ver; no cambiará").

He stated that joining forces with the FMLN would "deteriorate both parties" ("deteriorar a ambos partidos"), and that he wanted ARENA to be the alternative for Salvadorans who oppose Bukele.

[247] On 22 May, El Faro alleged that ARENA was in negotiations with the FMLN, Vamos, and Nuestro Tiempo to form a political coalition for the presidential election to oppose Bukele.

[274] On 22 May 2023, El Faro alleged that the FMLN was in negotiations with ARENA, Vamos, and Nuestro Tiempo to form a political coalition for the presidential election to oppose Bukele.

[320] Some deputies from ARENA, the FMLN, Nuestro Tiempo, and Vamos criticized the TSE for allowing the Solidary Force to register, describing the process as favoritism and illegal.

[146] PAIS sought to ally with opposition political parties such as ARENA, the FMLN, Vamos, Nuestro Tiempo, or the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity (FPS).

[339] On 13 October, Herbert Vega Cruz, a lawyer for PAIS, accused the TSE magistrates of committing electoral fraud for deregistering the party and rejecting its candidates.

[363] On 22 May 2023, El Faro alleged that Vamos was in negotiations with ARENA, the FMLN, and Nuestro Tiempo to form a political coalition for the presidential election to oppose Bukele.

According to the group's findings, the composition of the Legislative Assembly would have been: Nuevas Ideas with 60 seats, ARENA with 7, the FMLN with 6, GANA and Vamos with 3 each, the PCN and PDC with 2 each, and Nuestro Tiempo with 1.

[383] Nuevas Ideas, GANA, the PDC, the PCN, Solidary Force, and ARENA all won at least one mayorship, while the FMLN, Vamos, Nuestro Tiempo, Democratic Change, and the Salvadoran Patriotic Fraternity did not win any.

[396] In a press conference on 4 February 2024, Flores stated that the FMLN would not disappear as a political entity and that it was "not correct" for Bukele to declare himself the election's winner before the TSE made an official announcement.

[405] Milagro Navas, ARENA's sole elected mayor, celebrated her victory against Minister of Housing Michelle Sol and stated that she would cooperate with Bukele's government.

William H. Duncan, the United States ambassador to El Salvador, congratulated Bukele, adding that he hoped to "continue working with representatives of the Salvadoran people elected to fortify democracy, increase economic opportunities, and confront the shared challenges of the 21st century".

[417] Several members of the Democratic Party in the United States Senate congratulated Bukele's victory, but expressed that they were "troubled" regarding "unconstitutional moves that strongly influenced the outcome of Sunday's election" and statements made by Ulloa regarding "'eliminating' and 'replacing' democracy".

He argued that people waiting in line before the polling stations closed still had to be allowed to vote and called upon Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado to launch an investigation.

The TSE attributed the delay to "multiple actions that have hampered the development of the transmission activities of preliminary results" and shortages of paper to print out vote tallies.

[427] Óscar Picardo, the director of sciences at the Francisco Gavidia University, stated that "we've never seen a situation that affects electoral integrity like this ... it's obvious that Bukele has the most votes, as the polls say, but there are a lot of irregularities in the processing".

[440] On 19 February, leaders from ARENA, Vamos, and Nuestro Tiempo jointly announced they had submitted a petition to the TSE to nullify the legislative elections due to irregularities and allegations of fraud.