Costa Rica Elections 2014

Costa Rica is the most democratic country in Latin America, which includes Mexico, Central and South America according to the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

In 1821 Costa Rica gained independence from Spain and joined the rest of Central America to form a monarchial regime called the Mexican Empire.  In 1823 the five states of Central America were formed and allowed to govern themselves.

In 1856 the American Filibuster proclaimed himself president of Nicaragua and proceeded to invade Costa Rica.  During the battle to turn back William Walker and the filibusters, a young Costa Rican named Juan Santamaria (for whom the Airport in San Jose was named after) was killed in the final battle but not before his deeds allowed the young nation to retain it?s independence.

Costa Rica has elected Presidents since 1824 via indirect or direct popular vote.

1869 was considered the first truly free and honest elections and Costa Rica has avoided the violence that has hit much of Central America.  The 1917-19 Federico Tinoco Granados dictatorship and the disputed election of 1948 were the only blemishes on what has been an extraordinarily free and democratic society. 

In 1949 Costa Rica became the first sovereign nation to abolish it?s army and the constitution was modified to guarantee free elections with universal suffrage (Popular Vote) as opposed to the United States, who uses the Electoral College.  Since then, Costa Rica has elected 13 presidents to 4-year terms with a maximum of 2 terms.

Here are the results of the General Election of February 2nd, 2014

President:

To be elected President the candidate must win with at least 40% of the popular vote or face a runoff with the top two vote getters. 

As you can see in 2014 there was no clear winner and the presidency will be decided on April 6th, 2014 with a runoff between the two top vote getters ? Johnny Araya of the PLN and Luis Guillermo Solis of the PAC.

Stay tuned for results of the Presidential runoff!

The results of the Legislative Assembly Elections were: