1953 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 26 July 1953.[1] José Figueres Ferrer of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 67.2 percent in the presidential election and 67.5 percent in the parliamentary election.[2]

1953 Costa Rican general election

26 July 1953
Turnout67%
Presidential election
 
Nominee José Figueres Fernando Castro Cervantes
Party PLN Democratic
Home state Alajuela San José
Popular vote 294,016 67,324
Percentage 64.7% 35.3%

Results by canton

President before election

Otilio Ulate
PUN

Elected President

José Figueres
PLN

Legislative election

Party Leader % Seats ±
PLN José Figueres Ferrer 64.7% 30 New
Democratic Fernando Castro Cervantes 21.2% 11 +9
PRN Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia 7.2% 3 +3
PUN Otilio Ulate Blanco 6.9% 1 -33
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

This was Costa Rica's first election since the end of the 1948 Civil War, and democratic guarantees were not fully restored.

José Figueres, the caudillo of the victorious National Liberation Army faction in the Civil War, was the candidate of the newly founded National Liberation Party (PLN).[3] Liberal Mario Echandi tried to be the candidate from then-ruling National Union Party (PUN), but his candidacy was denied by the Electoral Tribunal due to purported irregularities in the adherents' signatures.[3] This move was highly criticized by Figueres' opponents as an action in favor of Figueres' candidacy.[3]

As PUN was unable to participate, the only other candidacy alternate to Figueres was made by the Democratic Party, which nominated wealthy industrial magnate Fernando Castro Cervantes.[3] The three parties—PLN, PUN and Democratic—were all formerly united in opposition against the 1940s governments of Rafael Angel Calderón and his allies, who were viewed as having caused the civil war. Yet, after the war, such unification ceased.[3]

The losing sides in the civil war, mostly the Republicans (Calderón supporters) and the Communists, were unable to participate as the Republicans' party was disbanded and the Communist Party was constitutionally outlawed.[3] The Republicans were nonetheless allowed to participate in the legislative ballot with a provincial party in San José called the "Independent" Republican Party, and thereby gained some seats. As expected, Figueres won by a landslide victory.[3]

Results

President

Candidate Party Votes %
José Figueres FerrerNational Liberation Party123,44464.7
Fernando Castro CervantesDemocratic Party67,32435.3
Invalid/blank votes6,721
Total197,489100
Registered voters/turnout295,92567
Source: Nohlen

By province

Province Figueres % Castro %
 San José Province 64.1 35.9
 Alajuela 67.8 32.2
 Cartago 75.0 25.0
 Heredia 62.5 37.5
 Puntarenas 58.4 41.6
 Limón 54.4 45.6
 Guanacaste 57.9 42.1
Total 64.7 35.3
Popular Vote
National Liberation
64.7%
Democratic
35.3%

Parliament

Popular Vote
National Liberation
64.7%
Democratic
21.2%
Ind. National Republican
7.2%
National Union
6.9%
Seats
National Liberation
66.7%
Democratic
24.4%
Ind. National Republican
6.6%
National Union
2.23%
Party Votes % Seats +/–
National Liberation Party114,04364.730+27
Democratic Party67,32421.211New
Independent National Republican Party12,6967.23New
National Union Party12,0696.91–33
Invalid/blank votes22,140
Total198,270100450
Registered voters/turnout295,92567
Source: TSE

By province

Province PLN PD PRN PUN
% S % S % S % S
 San José 64.7 10 11.4 2 17.3 3 6.6 1
 Alajuela 67.8 6 26.4 2 - - 5.7 0
 Cartago 75.5 5 18.2 1 - - 6.3 0
 Heredia 62.2 2 31.1 1 - - 6.3 0
 Puntarenas 59.1 3 36.0 2 - - 4.9 0
 Limón 55.0 1 30.7 1 - - 14.3 0
 Guanacaste 53.2 3 36.0 2 - - 10.8 0
Total 64.7 30 21.2 11 7.2 3 6.9 1

Local governments

Alderpeople
National Liberation
68.78%
Democratic
27.00%
National Republican
2.11%
National Union
2.11%
Municipal Syndics
National Liberation
95.68%
Democratic
4.32%
Parties Popular vote Alderpeople Municipal Syndics
Votes % Total Total
National Liberation Party (PLN) 115,55364,58163310
Democratic Party (PD) 42,00223,476414
Independent National Republican Party (PRN) 10,6415,9550
National Union Party (PUN) 10,6365,9450
Turrialba Independent Union Party (PUIT) 1030,0600
Total 178,935100.00237324
Invalid votes 19,3816.60
Votes cast / turnout 198,31667.53
Abstentions 95,36232,47
Registered voters 293,678100%
Sources[4]

Ballot

References

  1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. Nohlen, p156
  3. Hernández Naranjo, Gerardo. "Reseña de las elecciones presidenciales de 1953" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 13 April 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Elecciones Regidurías 1953". tse.go.cr (in Spanish). Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
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