1982 Salvadoran presidential election

Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 29 April 1982. The election was indirect rather than being a popular vote; the Constitutional Assembly voted on three candidates nominated by the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES). Álvaro Magaña, a moderate and the leader of the Democratic Action Party (AD), won the election with 36 votes.

In September 1981, the ruling Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG) scheduled a Constitutional Assembly election for March 1982. In April 1982, the new members of the Constitutional Assembly held a public session to elect the country's provisional president from three candidates approved by the armed forces. Magaña won 36 votes, defeating Hugo César Barrera of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) who won 17 votes. Magaña became President on 2 May 1982 and served until 1 June 1984. His role was mostly symbolic and held little power; most power was vested with the military and Roberto D'Aubuisson, the president of the Constitutional Assembly.

D'Aubuisson, the leader of ARENA, was initially expected to win the election. The United States pressured the military and the Constitutional Assembly not to select D'Aubuisson as a presidential candidate due to his connections to death squads in the country's civil war. After the election, D'Aubuisson accused General Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez, a member of the JRG, of rigging the election in Magaña's favor.