The latest poll results from the official count show that the Costa Rica presidential vote will go to a second and final ballot on April 3rd 2022.
It’s not surprising that with 25 presidential candidates, no one particular candidate reached the required 40% of votes in the first ballot.
With about 90% of the votes counted, former President José María Figueres from the National Liberation Party (PLN) was in first place with 27% and Rodrigo Chaves from the Party for Social Democratic Progress (PSD) in second place with 17%.
Third place is currently being held by Fabricio Alvarado of the New Republic Party (NR) with 15.0 % of the vote
Election Authority
Costa Rica’s Supreme Election Tribunal (Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones or TSE by its acronym in Spanish) were calling a second and final Costa Rica presidential vote on April 3rd between José María Figueres and Rodrigo Chaves.
The TSE were reporting a disappointing turnout for the first ballot with the highest level of abstention in 60 years as 40% of the eligible voters stayed home for the first vote. This should change for the deciding second ballot in April.
Legislative Assembly
The 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly (Congress) were also up for election. The number of votes Figueres was showing for president indicates that the legislature would be divided with the Figueres National Liberation Party (PLN) likely to win 19 seats but not form a majority government. The new president will need to negotiate with opposition “Diputados” in order to push through any legislative change.
Current Issues
Costa Rica’s image has been tarnished recently by allegations of corruption. That and the higher cost of living are two issues that are high on the list for the 3.5 million voters in a country of five million people. Other issues are the steadily rising unemployment number which reached 14.4 percent in 2021 and the poverty rate of 23 percent in the same year. The public debt which is running at 70 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) also has many people concerned.
Read also; General Elections in Costa Rica – Seven Things to Know
