2010 Costa Rican general election

2010 Costa Rican general election
	7 February 2010[1]
	7 February 2010[1]
Turnout	69.1%
	Presidential election
	Results by canton
President before election; Oscar Arias; PLN	Elected President ; Laura Chinchilla; PLN
	Legislative election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 7 February 2010. The ruling party before the election, the center-left National Liberation Party, put forward former Vice-President Laura Chinchilla as its presidential candidate, while the libertarian, Movimiento Libertario nominated former legislator Otto Guevara. Opinion polls before voting started consistently put Chinchilla as the front-runner, a trend confirmed in the election-night count, which showed her garnering 46.76% of the vote.[2]

The election was supervised by observers from several countries, as well as from the Organization of American States.[3] The incumbent president, Óscar Arias, was ineligible to run for a second consecutive term. This was the last time as of 2019, that the National Liberation Party has gotten more than 30% of the vote, the last time to this date that they have won the Presidency, and the last time it has won any province in what is known as the Central Valley (the four provinces in the interior of the country: San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago).

Presidential candidates

Candidates included:

Laura Chinchilla Miranda (ruling National Liberation Party, vice-president 2006-08)
Ottón Solís (oppositional Citizens' Action Party, candidate in 2006)
Otto Guevara (Movimiento Libertario, candidate in 2006)
Luis Fishman (conservative Social Christian Unity Party, vice-president under Abel Pacheco)

Two weeks before the election, Patriotic Alliance and National Integration Party's candidates, Rolando Araya and Walter Muñoz, stopped their campaigns and endorsed Citizens' Action Party's candidate Otton Solís, in an effort to build a progressive alliance against Laura Chinchilla.[4]

Parliamentary elections

The swifting from a two-party system to a multi-party system was much more evident in this election[5][6][7][8]

For the then three major parties; PLN, PAC and ML the voting for the presidential ballot was superior to the support in the legislative, as for example PLN presidential candidate Laura Chinchilla[5] received 46%[9] of the votes and PLN's legislative ballot only 37%.[1] Similarly PAC's candidate Ottón Solís with 25%[9] presidential against 17% legislative[1] and Otto Guevara with 20%[9] oppose to 14% legislative.[1] Contrary to PUSC whose candidate Luis Fishman received 3%[9] electoral support while his party received 8%.[1]

This was at the time PAC's worst electoral result in its history having the smallest faction in the Parliament[6] and ML's best result with to this date its biggest.[6] PLN only lost one seat. Left-wing Broad Front maintained its only seat in the person of future presidential nominee José María Villalta Florez-Estrada[6] and two Christian parties[10] for the first time had deputies at the same time; Costa Rican Renewal Party and its provincial offshoot National Restoration.[6]

Opinion polling

CID-Gallup 24 January 2010: Chinchilla 43%; Guevara 30%; Solís 15%; Fishman 8%
Borge & Asociados for Diario Extra opinion poll January 2010: Chinchilla 38.7%; Guevara 18.3%; Solís 9.6%; Fishman 3.7%
Demoscopía for Al Día January 2010: Chinchilla 45.1%; Guevara 30.1%; Solís 9.5%; Fishman 3.8%[11]
December 2009: Chinchilla 36.7%; Guevara 16.2%; Solís 8.5%; Fishman 2.2%
December 2009: Chinchilla 46.6%; Guevara 19.5%; Solís 8.3%; Fishman 4.1%
October 2009: Chinchilla 53.0%; Guevara 15.7%; Solís 12.3%; Fishman 1.5%

Results

President

At 9:08 p.m. local time on election day, 7 February second-placed candidate Otton Solis conceded defeat to Laura Chinchilla, who will become Costa Rica's first female president. With approximately 40% of the vote counted, Chinchilla was consistently surpassing the 40% threshold for victory in the first round, leading Solis by 47% to 24%, with third-placed candidate Otto Guevara trailing at 21.5%.[12]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Laura Chinchilla	National Liberation Party	863,803	46.78
	Ottón Solís	Citizens' Action Party	464,454	25.15
	Otto Guevara	Libertarian Movement	384,540	20.83
	Luis Fishman	Social Christian Unity Party	71,330	3.86
	Óscar López	Accessibility without Exclusion	35,215	1.91
	Mayra González	Costa Rican Renewal Party	13,376	0.72
	Eugenio Trejos	Broad Front	6,822	0.37
	Rolando Araya	Patriotic Alliance Party	3,795	0.21
	Walter Muñoz	National Integration Party	3,198	0.17
Invalid/blank votes			39,514	–
Total			1,950,847	100
Registered voters/turnout			2,822,491	69.12
Source: TSE

Popular Vote

National Liberation			46.78%
Citizens' Action			25.15%
Libertarian Movement			20.83%
Social Christian Unity			3.86%
Acc. w/o Exclusion			1.91%
Costa Rican Renewal			0.72%
Broad Front			0.37%
Patriotic Alliance			0.21%
National Integration			0.17%

By province

Province %	PLN %	PAC %	ML %	PUSC %	PASE %	PRC %	Other %
Province %
San José	46.6	28.9	17.6	3.6	2.1	0.6	0.6
Alajuela	45.3	26.5	21.9	3.2	1.8	0.8	0.5
Cartago	49.7	23.5	19.4	4.2	2.1	0.4	0.7
Heredia	46.6	27.6	19.5	3.2	1.8	0.6	0.7
Puntarenas	48.9	17.3	26.7	4.4	1.3	0.8	0.6
Limón	41.6	17.5	31.4	5.0	1.7	1.9	0.9
Guanacaste	51.4	15.9	23.3	6.1	1.6	1.2	0.6
Total	46.8	25.1	20.9	3.9	1.9	0.7	0.8

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly-Popular vote

National Liberation			37.16%
Citizens' Action			17.68%
Libertarian Movement			14.48%
Acc. w/o Exclusion			9.17%
Social Christian Unity			8.05%
Costa Rican Renewal			3.97%
Broad Front			3.66%
National Restoration			1.62%
Patriotic Alliance			1.47%
Other			1.22%

Legislative Assembly-Seats

National Liberation			42.10%
Citizens' Action			19.29%
Libertarian Movement			15.79%
Social Christian Unity			10.52%
Acc. w/o Exclusion			7.01%
Costa Rican Renewal			1.75%
Broad Front			1.75%
National Restoration			1.75%

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–

	National Liberation Party	708,043	37.3	24	–1
	Citizens' Action Party	334,636	17.6	11	–6
	Libertarian Movement	275,518	14.5	9	+3
	Accessibility without Exclusion	171,858	9.0	4	+3
	Social Christian Unity Party	155,047	8.2	6	+1
	Costa Rican Renewal Party	73,150	3.9	1	+1
	Broad Front	68,987	3.6	1	0
	National Restoration Party	29,530	1.6	1	0
	Patriotic Alliance Party	28,349	1.5	0	New
	National Integration Party	14,643	0.8	0	0
	Cartago Agrarian Union Party	11,862	0.6	0	0
	Heredia Restoration Party	7,953	0.4	0	New
	Alajuela Restoration Party	7,298	0.4	0	New
	Cartaginese Transparency Party	4,590	0.2	0	New
	Green Ecologist Party	2,901	0.2	0	New
	Elderly Alliance Party	2,724	0.1	0	New
	Alajuelan Familiar Force Party	1,609	0.1	0	New
	Workers' and Farmers' Movement	1,127	0.1	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		32,883	–	–	–
Total		1,950,708	100	57	0
Registered voters/turnout		2,822,491	69.1	–	–
Source: Election Resources

By province

Province	PLN		PAC		ML		PUSC		PASE		PRC		FA		PREN		AP		Other

	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
San José	35.5	7	19.0	4	12.3	2	7.4	2	11.1	2	3.0	1	4.7	1	4.3	1	1.1	0	1.6	0
Alajuela	38.2	5	19.9	2	16.5	2	6.5	1	8.5	1	6.5	0	1.3	0	2.0	0	1.9	0	0.8	0
Cartago	38.9	3	17.0	1	13.1	1	7.6	1	7.9	1	2.8	0	2.8	0	-	0	1.2	0	8.5	0
Heredia	37.0	2	19.1	2	13.9	1	7.3	0	8.7	0	2.9	0	4.8	0	4.0	0	1.9	0	0.5	0
Puntarenas	39.7	2	14.3	1	18.6	1	13.8	1	5.1	0	4.3	0	2.2	0	-	0	1.1	0	1.0	0
Limón	33.3	2	12.0	1	20.1	1	10.2	1	5.6	0	8.6	0	7.3	0	-	0	1.2	0	1.8	0
Guanacaste	43.1	3	11.6	0	13.5	1	11.0	0	10.0	0	5.1	0	2.2	0	-	0	3.1	0	0.3	0
Total	37.3	24	17.6	11	14.5	9	8.2	6	9.0	4	3.9	1	3.6	1	2.4	1	1.5	0	2.0	0

Municipal Councils

The elections of municipal councilors of Costa Rica in 2010 were an electoral process held in parallel with the presidential and legislative elections. In them the 495 tenure aldermen and the 495 alternates that conform the 81 Municipal Councils were chosen.

The Central Canton of San José, the most populous, named 13 aldermen. Desamparados and Alajuela named 11. Others less populated (Puntarenas, Limón, Pococí, Heredia, Cartago, La Unión, San Carlos, Goicoechea, Pérez Zeledón, etc.) named 9. Others even smaller (Tibás, Grecia, Vázquez de Coronado, Montes de Oca, Siquirres, Escazú, Turrialba, etc.) appointed 7 council members. Finally, the smallest (Turrubares, San Mateo, Santa Ana, Mora, Montes de Oro, Talamanca, etc.) named 5.

Alderpeople

National Liberation			39.52%
Citizens' Action			20.16%
Libertarian Movement			15.32%
Social Christian Unity			11.09%
Regionalist			6.45%
Access. w/o Exclusion			4.44%
Costa Rican Renewal			2.02%
Patriotic Alliance			0.60%
Broad Front			0.20%
National Restoration			0.20%

Parties		Popular vote			Alderpeople
Parties		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/-
	National Liberation Party (PLN)	700,659	36.96	+0.55	196	-32
	Citizens' Action Party (PAC)	331,167	17.47	-7.07	100	-39
	Libertarian Movement (ML)	255,411	13.47	+5.07	76	+40
	Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC)	174,462	9.20	+0.31	55	-4
	Accessibility without Exclusion (PASE)	143,273	7.56	New	22	New
	Costa Rican Renewal Party (PRC)	51,302	2.71	-0.42	10	+6
	Broad Front (FA)	45,399	2.40	+1.90	1	+1
	Patriotic Alliance (AP)	28,738	1.52	New	3	New
	National Restoration Party (PREN)	24,690	1.30	-0.10	1	-1
	21st Century Curridabat (CSXXI)	5,643	0.75	+0.50	4	+2
	Renew Alajuela Party (PRA)	13,403	0.71	New	1	New
	National Integration Party (PIN)	10.121	0.53	-0.35	0	0
	Heredia Restoration Party (PREH)	8,797	0.46	New	0	New
	Escazu's Progressive Yoke (YPE)	8,145	0.43	+0.05	2	0
	Green Ecologist Party (PVE)	5,319	0.28	+0.09	0	0
	Sancarlenean Alliance Coalition (FA-AP) (CAS)	4,895	0.26	New	1	New
	Cartago Agrarian Union Party (PUAC)	9,029	0.26	-0.40	1	-1
	Ramonense League Coalition (FA-AP) (CALIRA)	4,662	0.25	New	1	New
	Palmarenean Union Party (PUPal)	4,158	0.22	-0.09	2	0
	Party of the Sun (PdS)	4,077	0.22	-0.03	2	0
	Fuenteovejuna Civic Party of Tibás (PCFT)	3,655	0.19	New	1	New
	Alajuela Restoration Party (PREA)	3,414	0.18	New	0	New
	Santo Domingo Advancement Movement (MAS)	3,398	0.18	New	1	New
	Goicoechea in Action Party (PGEA)	3,348	0.18	-0.04	1	+1
	United Barva Coalition (FA-PASE) (CBU)	3,017	0.16	New	1	New
	Alajuelense Coalition (FA-AP) (CALJ)	2,980	0.16	New	1	New
	The Bridge and Paths of Mora (PYCM)	2,962	0.16	-0.01	1	-0.01
	Authentic Labourer of Coronado Party (PALABRA)	2,848	0.15	-0.04	1	0
	Ateniense Union Party (PUA)	2,602	0.14	New	1	New
	Barbarenean Integration Party (PINBAR)	2,369	0.14	New	1	New
	Elderly Alliance Party (PAM)	2,279	0.12	New	0	New
	Unique Abangarean Party (PUAB)	2,229	0.12	New	2	New
	Cantonal Action Independent Siquirres Party (PACSI)	2,116	0.12	+0.00	1	0
	United Montes de Oca Coalition (FA-PH) (CMdOU)	2,086	0.12	New	0	New
	Social Active Organization (OSA)	2,025	0.11	New	1	New
	Independent Belemite Party (PIB)	2,014	0.11	+0.03	1	0
	Live Buenos Aires Party (PVBA)	1,791	0.09	New	1	New
	Communal Pro-Curri Party (PCPC)	1,718	0.09	-0.08	0	-1
	United Heredia Coalition (FA-PH) (CHU)	1,403	0.07	New	0	New
	Quepeña Action Party (PAQ)	1,386	0.07	-0.02	0	-2
	Autonomous Oromontan Party (PAO)	1,170	0.06	+0.01	1	0
	Workers' and Peasants' Movement (MTC)	1,120	0.06	-0.05	0	0
	Naranjenean Action Party (PANAR)	1,047	0.06	New	0	New
	Alfaro Ruiz Peoples' Coalition (FA-AP) (CPAR)	1,023	0.05	New	1	New
	Tarrazú First Party (PTP)	991	0.05	New	0	New
	Barbarenean Coalition (FA-AP) (CB)	831	0.05	New	0	New
	Ecological Garabito Party (PEG)	709	0.04	-0.01	1	0
	United Talamanca Party (PTU)	508	0.03	New	0	New
	Aguirre Labour Organization Party (OLA)	456	0.02	-0.01	0	0
	Poasenean Patriotic Front Coalition (FA-AP) (CFPP)	345	0.02	New	0	New

Total		1,895,558	100.00	-	496	-4

Invalid votes		55,066	2.83
Votes cast / turnout		1,950,624	65.19
Abstentions		871,867	30.89

Registered voters		2,822,491	100%

Sources[13]

References

"7 February 2010 Legislative Assembly Election Results - Costa Rica Totals". Election Resources. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
(in Spanish)
Jara, Francisco (2010-02-06). "AFP: First female poised for Costa Rica presidency". Retrieved 2010-08-21.
https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/politica/araya-y-munoz-renuncian-a-ser-candidatos-y-apoyan-a-solis/DRRTC4TAPBBVBNP2472YW3I66I/story/
"Panorama of Parliament Elections 2010" (PDF). International Parliamentary Union.
Lehring, Gary (15 February 2014). "Costa Rican legislative elections show growing voter dissatisfaction with traditional choices". The Tico Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
Landsford, Tom (2014-03-20). Political Handbook of the World 2014. ISBN 9781483386263. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
Landsford, Tom (2012-04-02). Political Handbook of the World 2012. ISBN 9781608719952. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
"7 February 2010 Presidential Election Results - Costa Rica Totals". Elections Resources. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
Lopez, Jaime (July 18, 2013). "Civic Groups Move Against Gay Marriage in Costa Rica". Costa Rica Star. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
"Chinchilla Leads, Guevara Gains in Costa Rica: Angus Reid Global Monitor". Angus-reid.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
"Solís reconoce victoria de Chinchilla - EL PAÍS". nacion.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
"Elecciones Regidurías 2010". tse.go.cr (in Spanish). Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Retrieved 21 May 2020.

Bruce M. Wilson and Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Cordero: "The general election in Costa Rica, February 2010". In Electoral Studies, Volume 30, Issue 1, March 2011, pages 231-234.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[ER-1] "7 February 2010 Legislative Assembly Election Results - Costa Rica Totals". Election Resources. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

[2] (in Spanish)

[3] Jara, Francisco (2010-02-06). "AFP: First female poised for Costa Rica presidency". Retrieved 2010-08-21.

[4] ttps://www.nacion.com/el-pais/politica/araya-y-munoz-renuncian-a-ser-candidatos-y-apoyan-a-solis/DRRTC4TAPBBVBNP2472YW3I66I/story/

[IPU-5] "Panorama of Parliament Elections 2010" (PDF). International Parliamentary Union.

[Lehring-6] Lehring, Gary (15 February 2014). "Costa Rican legislative elections show growing voter dissatisfaction with traditional choices". The Tico Times. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

[Landsford-7] Landsford, Tom (2014-03-20). Political Handbook of the World 2014. ISBN 9781483386263. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

[Landsford_2-8] Landsford, Tom (2012-04-02). Political Handbook of the World 2012. ISBN 9781608719952. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

[ER2-9] "7 February 2010 Presidential Election Results - Costa Rica Totals". Elections Resources. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

[10] Lopez, Jaime (July 18, 2013). "Civic Groups Move Against Gay Marriage in Costa Rica". Costa Rica Star. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

[11] "Chinchilla Leads, Guevara Gains in Costa Rica: Angus Reid Global Monitor". Angus-reid.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-08-21.

[12] "Solís reconoce victoria de Chinchilla - EL PAÍS". nacion.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21.

[13] "Elecciones Regidurías 2010". tse.go.cr (in Spanish). Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Retrieved 21 May 2020.

Elections and referendums in Costa Rica
Presidential elections	1825 1829 1833 1835 1837 1844 1847 1849 1853 1859 1860 1863 1866 1869 1872 1876 1882 1886 1889 1894 1897–98 1901–02 1905–06 1909–10 1913 1917 1919 1923 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1953 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Parliamentary elections	1849 1853 1859 1860 1863 1866 1869 1872 1876 1882 1886 1889 1894 1897–98 1901–02 1905–06 1909–10 1913 1915 1917 1919 1921 1923 1925 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 (Feb) 1948 (Dec) 1949 1953 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Local elections	2002 2006 2010 2016 2020
Referendums	1870 2007
See also: Elections in the Federal Republic of Central America