General elections were held in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
on Sunday, 2 February 2014 to elect a new
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
, two
vice presidents, and 57
Legislative Assembly lawmakers. In accordance with Article 132 of the constitution, incumbent President
Laura Chinchilla Miranda was ineligible to run for a second consecutive term.
The ruling
National Liberation Party put forward
San José Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
Johnny Araya Monge as its presidential candidate; the
Libertarian Movement party nominated former legislator
Otto Guevara Guth; the leftist
Broad Front nominated
José María Villalta Florez-Estrada; and the center-left
Citizens' Action Party nominated
Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera.
Opinion polls in December 2013 showed Araya ahead with 37 percent, Villalta close behind at 32 percent, Guevara at 15 percent, and Solís trailing at eight percent, suggesting the likelihood of a
run-off vote in February.
[Newest poll shows Araya and Villalta heading for a runoff election](_blank)
The Tico Times, 2013-12-18.
La Nación, 2013-12-01. Villalta's strong showing in the polls caused concern among Araya supporters and business leaders in Costa Rica.
La Nacion, Costa Rica's most important newspaper and a historical ally of Liberacion Nacional, began a concerted series of attacks against Villalta, comparing him to
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
's
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
. Political experts later concluded that this focus on Villalta helped Luis Guillermo Solis in the election.
In the presidential election, Solís and Araya came first and second, respectively, with neither candidate reaching 40 percent of the valid poll in the first round of voting, so a second round of voting was held from 6am to 6pm on 6 April, the first run-off election since 2002.
In a surprise move, Araya announced on 6 March that he would abandon his campaign for the run-off election. He stated that after weighing his chances it was only sensible to withdraw from the campaign. Recent polls had indicated that he was trailing badly behind Solís and he believed that spending money on campaigning was not prudent. Although Araya's action effectively handed the presidency to Solís, the run-off still had to take place since Costa Rican law does not allow for a candidate to withdraw from a run-off election. Ultimately, Solís won the second round with 78 percent of the vote, a historic high in Costa Rica. Unlike the first round, Solís won a majority in every province.
Presidential candidates
There were thirteen political parties on the 2014 ballot, each one with their corresponding ticket of a president and two vice-presidents.
Opinion polls
If no candidate surmounts the 40% threshold, the two candidates who would qualify for the runoff are marked. No poll accurately predicted the first or second round voting results.
Results
President
The results of the first-round final count were declared on 17 February 2014, with the results of the second-round eighth count being declared on 7 April 2014:
By province
First round
Second round
Legislative Assembly
Although Solís'
PAC
Pac or PAC may refer to:
Aviation
* IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama
* Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft:
** PAC 750XL
** PAC Cresco
** PAC CT/4
** PA ...
received the most votes in the presidential elections,
the party did not won in the parliamentary voting making
PLN the largest party in the Assembly with 18 deputies over PAC's 13.
Leftist party
Broad Front surprised with its results, achieving 9 seats,
first time ever that the Left achieved such a big number.
Social Christian Unity Party recovered part of its former influence
by turning into the fourth political party in legislative size even when its candidate Rodolfo Piza was fifth in the presidential vote.
The opposite happened to
Otto Guevara’s right-wing
Libertarian Movement,
fourth in presidential votes,
which stood fifth in legislative elections, and as a result, the number of its deputies was reduced from 9 to 4.
Oscar Lopez’s
PASE party also suffered a diminishment in number of deputies from 4 to 1 (Lopez himself).
Three Christian parties, oriented toward the
Protestant minority and very
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...
, also achieved deputies:
Costa Rican Renewal Party 2,
National Restoration 1 and
Christian Democratic Alliance 1.
By province
Candidates elected
Fifty-seven legislators were elected and took office on 1 May 2014, eleven of whom had been members of the Legislative Assembly in the past. Five were from the National Liberation Party: Antonio Álvarez Desanti, Juan Luis Jiménez, Olivier Jiménez, Rolando González, and Sandra Piszk. Two were from the Citizen Action Party: Epsy Campbell and Ottón Solís. Mario Redondo of the Christian Democratic Alliance served previously with the Social Christian Unity Party. The others were Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement Party, Oscar López of Accessibility Without Exclusion, and Jorge Rodríguez of the Social Christian Unity Party. The full list is as follows:
Declaratoria de elección de Diputados a la Asamblea Legislativa de la República de Costa Rica 2014-2018
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-03-03.
La Nación, 2014-02-10.
Corte #1: Resultados Electorales: SAN JOSÉ
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-24.
Corte #2: Resultados Electorales: ALAJUELA
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-25.
Corte #3: Resultados Electorales: CARTAGO
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-25.
Corte #4: Resultados Electorales: HEREDIA
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-25.
Corte #5: Resultados Electorales: GUANACASTE
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-27.
Corte #6: Resultados Electorales: PUNTARENAS
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-27.
Corte #7: Resultados Electorales: LIMÓN
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, 2014-02-27.
References
{{Costa Rican elections
Parliamentary elections in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
general election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
Presidential elections in Costa Rica