Costa Rica held a on 5 February 2006 . The preliminary official report, after 88.45% of the vote counted, showed the result for President Of The Republic almost tied between Óscar Arias with 40.51% of the vote and Ottón Solís with 40.29%. Given the small difference of only 3250 votes, the Superior Electoral Tribunal announced that a manual count of all the votes would start immediately and no official winner would be announced until that process was completed, approximately two weeks after the election.
Although electoral law does provide for a run-off vote in presidential elections (a mechanism first used in the election of Abel Pacheco in 2002), the rules state that a second round of voting is to be held only if no candidate manages to secure at least 40% of the vote, which was not the case in this instance.
The presidential election was held concurrently with elections to the Legislative Assembly , the country's 57-member unicameral national legislature.
On 7 March , the official results showed Arias beat contender Otton Solis by 18,169 votes (1.2% of valid votes cast).
There were fourteen candidates running for the presidency in the 2006 elections. However, only a few rose in the polls above the error margin.
| |
Jim last = Wright
|
| |
Costa Rica's Oscar Arias: Blessed are the peacemakers
|
| |
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
|
| |
10 February 1998
|
|
| |
"No habrá segunda vuelta"
|
| |
Sylvia Alvarado Marenco and Pablo Guerén Catepillán
|
| |
http://wwwaldiacocr/especiales/elecciones2006/ariashtml
|
| |
Al Día
|
| |
20 December
|
| |
2005
|
|
With the pre-election opinion polls favoring Óscar Arias, he did not foresee such stiff competetion from his closest rival Ottón Solís. At first count, there was a difference of only 0.4% (Óscar Arias = 40.6% vs Ottón Solís = 40.2%). That translated means about 3,200 votes. Óscar Arias' expected landslide victory is now a thing of the past. Public opinion attributes this to several factors, including the apparent arrogance of Óscar Arias in the last weeks, his mud-slinging mannerisms towards other candidates, his old-fashioned beliefs and ideas, and the fact that Costa Rica now needs a radical leader to take it out of the pit it has fallen into. Several voters supporting candidates other than Óscar Arias and Ottón Solís chose to cast their ballot for Ottón Solís with the objective of keeping Óscar Arias from winning the elections.
Election laws in Costa Rica dictate, among other things, that a candidate requires 40% of the votes to avoid a second round of voting for election of the President. Further, in case of a tie with candidates having the same number of votes, the older (in age) of the two wins the seat. Several malpractices have been found during the first round of counting. Votes from an entire polling station have been known to be ignored. Therefore, now the Supreme Tribunal of Elections is conducting a second count under close scrutiny. Results are expected next week.
| |
Current Biography International Yearbook
|
| |
2002 year = 2002
|
| |
Pacheco de la Espriella, Abel
|
|
|
| |
James C McKinley Jr
|
| |
US Trade Pact Divides the Central Americans, With Farmers and Others Fearful
|
| |
New York Times
|
| |
21 August 2005
|
| |
Jim last = Abrams
|
| |
Administration moves to ease objections to trade agreement
|
| |
Associated Press
|
| |
10 June 2005
|
| |
Julian Sanchez
|
| |
12 August 2003
|
| |
http://wwwreasoncom/interviews/guevarashtml
|
| |
The Other Guevara
|
| |
Reason Online
|
| |
20 December
|
| |
2005
|
|
For the 2006 election, a faction of the
Movimiento Libertario led by Guevara took control of the party and backed down on many of the party's initial positions. They have decided to accept government funding, which was previously qualified by him as immoral, and on several interviews he has claimed that public education needs to be strenghtened by more funding, that the country needs to build more jails, and several other issues that will actually increase government spending.
| |
Pablo last = Alfonso
|
| |
Líder Costarricense pide luchar contra la dictadura castrista
|
| |
El Nuevo Herald
|
| |
5A
|
| |
24 July 2005
|
|
He hasn't yet made clear if his position on these issues changed along with the others. Given that his position on Cuba was likely the result of influence by Raúl Costales, an exiled Cuban who was one of the party founders and a long-time party secretary, and that he separated himself from the party after they voted to accept money from the government, it's likely Guevara's foreign policy has changed.
Mr. Guevara has also shown clichéd politician traits during the course of his campaign. An unofficial count of his supporters shows that 70% of them are women and when asked, they state their reason for support to be Mr. Guevara's good looks.
| |
http://wwwasambleagocr/diputado/toledohtm
|
| |
Ricardo Jaime Toledo Carranza
|
| |
Asamblea Legislativa República de Costa Rica
|
| |
21 December
|
| |
2005
|
|
Antonio Álvarez is the candidate for the party that he heads, the
Union For Change Party (UPC).
He is running on a platform of political change. In an interview with newspaper ''Al Día'' Álvarez said that one thing that he believes negatively affects the country is unregulated immigration of
Nicaraguans . He recommends stricter penalties for employers of immigrants who might be exploiting the Nicaraguans for cheap labor, and for increased use of documentation for immigrants.
| |
30 November 2005
|
| |
http://wwwupcorcr/entrevistas/Chat_Al_Diapdf
|
| |
Transcripción del Chat de Al Día: Antonio Álvarez Desanti, candidato presidencial de UPC
|
| |
PDF
|
| |
Al Día
|
| |
21 December
|
| |
2005
|
|
