2014 Costa Rican general election information

2014 Costa Rican general election
	Presidential election
Turnout	68.48% (first round); 56.50% (second round)
President before election; Laura Chinchilla; PLN	Elected President ; Luis Guillermo Solís; PAC
	Legislative election
	All 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly; 29 seats needed for a majority

General elections were held in Costa Rica on Sunday, 2 February 2014 to elect a new president, two vice presidents, and 57 Legislative Assembly lawmakers.^[1] In accordance with Article 132 of the constitution, incumbent President Laura Chinchilla Miranda was ineligible to run for a second consecutive term.^[2]

The ruling National Liberation Party put forward San José Mayor 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.^[3]^[4] 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's Hugo Chávez. Political experts later concluded that this focus on Villalta helped Luis Guillermo Solis in the election.^[5]

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.^[3]^[6]

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.^[7] Ultimately, Solís won the second round with 78 percent of the vote, a historic high in Costa Rica.^[8]^[9] Unlike the first round, Solís won a majority in every province.^[10]

^ Costa Rica's 2014 election season is officially open Archived 2013-11-11 at the Wayback Machine The Tico Times, 2013-10-02.
^ Constitución Política de la República de Costa Rica Archived February 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Asamblea Legislativa de Costa Rica. Retrieved: 2013-12-28. (in Spanish)
^ ^a ^b Newest poll shows Araya and Villalta heading for a runoff election Archived 2014-01-09 at the Wayback Machine The Tico Times, 2013-12-18.
^ Encuesta de Unimer: Costa Rica sin favorito a dos meses de elecciones Archived 2014-01-07 at the Wayback Machine La Nación, 2013-12-01. (in Spanish)
^ Frajman, Eduardo "The General Election in Costa Rica, February/April 2014" Electoral Studies, Vol. 35, 2014, pp. 61-66
^ Supreme Elections Tribunal begins manual recount of presidential votes Archived 2014-02-05 at the Wayback Machine The Tico Times, 2014-02-04.
^ Costa Rica government's presidential candidate withdraws Archived 2014-03-12 at the Wayback Machine BBC World News, 2014-03-06.
^ Live Costa Rica presidential election results Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine The Tico Times, 2014-04-06.
^ "Mapa de Resultados Elecciones Costa Rica Abril 2014" [Costa Rican Map of April 2014 Electoral Results]. RESULTADOS ELECTORALES EN MAPA SEGUNDA RONDA ELECTORAL (in Spanish). San José: La Nación. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
^ Bermúdez Aguilar, Andrés; Efrén López Madrigal (7 April 2014). "PAC ganó elecciones con más de un millón de votos" [PAC wins election with more than one million votes]. La Prensa Libre (Costa Rica) (in Spanish). San José. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.

[1] Costa Rica's 2014 election season is officially open Archived 2013-11-11 at the Wayback Machine The Tico Times, 2013-10-02.

[2] Constitución Política de la República de Costa Rica Archived February 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Asamblea Legislativa de Costa Rica. Retrieved: 2013-12-28. (in Spanish)

[runoff-3] Newest poll shows Araya and Villalta heading for a runoff election Archived 2014-01-09 at the Wayback Machine The Tico Times, 2013-12-18.

[encuesta-4] Encuesta de Unimer: Costa Rica sin favorito a dos meses de elecciones Archived 2014-01-07 at the Wayback Machine La Nación, 2013-12-01. (in Spanish)

[5] Frajman, Eduardo "The General Election in Costa Rica, February/April 2014" Electoral Studies, Vol. 35, 2014, pp. 61-66

[6] Supreme Elections Tribunal begins manual recount of presidential votes Archived 2014-02-05 at the Wayback Machine The Tico Times, 2014-02-04.

[7] Costa Rica government's presidential candidate withdraws Archived 2014-03-12 at the Wayback Machine BBC World News, 2014-03-06.

[8] Live Costa Rica presidential election results Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine The Tico Times, 2014-04-06.

[9] "Mapa de Resultados Elecciones Costa Rica Abril 2014" [Costa Rican Map of April 2014 Electoral Results]. RESULTADOS ELECTORALES EN MAPA SEGUNDA RONDA ELECTORAL (in Spanish). San José: La Nación. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.

[PL_millon-10] Bermúdez Aguilar, Andrés; Efrén López Madrigal (7 April 2014). "PAC ganó elecciones con más de un millón de votos" [PAC wins election with more than one million votes]. La Prensa Libre (Costa Rica) (in Spanish). San José. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.

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