2002 Costa Rican general election

2002 Costa Rican general election
← 1998 3 February 2002 (2002-02-03) (first round)
7 April 2002 (2002-04-07) (second round)		 2006 →
Presidential election
Turnout68.84% (first round) Decrease 1.15pp
60.22% (second round)
 
Nominee Abel Pacheco Rolando Araya
Party PUSC PLN
Popular vote 776,278 563,202
Percentage 57.95% 42.05%
President before election

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez
PUSC

Elected President

Abel Pacheco
PUSC

Parliamentary election
All 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly
29 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader % Seats +/–
PUSC Abel Pacheco 29.78 19 −8
PLN Rolando Araya Monge 27.10 17 −6
PAC Ottón Solís 21.96 14 New
PML Otto Guevara 9.34 6 +5
PRC Justo Orozco 3.59 1 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by province
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General elections were held in Costa Rica on 3 February 2002.[1] For the first time in the country's history, no candidate in the presidential election passed the 40% threshold.[2] This meant a second round of voting had to be held on 7 April which saw Abel Pacheco of the Social Christian Unity Party defeat the National Liberation Party's Rolando Araya Monge.[3]

Many analysts consider this election the beginning of the end of Costa Rica's decades-long two party system.[4][5][6] For the first time in many years alternative political forces become really relevant in the Parliament and the plenary had three large party groups; PUSC (19), PLN (17) and PAC (14).[7]

While PUSC won the presidential election and the majority in Congress, PLN became the primal opposition force in Parliament. Centre-left PAC with a progressive proposal seem to had gravely affected traditional third forces at the left of the spectrum like Democratic Force that fail to win any seat on that election even when for some years was Costa Rica's main third party.[7] Right-wing Libertarian Movement also increases its representation from one to six deputies[7] while conservative[8] Costa Rican Renewal Party won one seat as usual.[7]

It was the first time in Costa Rica an evangelical Christian party, the Christian National Alliance, nominated a catholic, biologist and professor Marvin Calvo Montoya, as its presidential candidate. It was also the last presidential election of the Christian National Alliance.

Despite the close contest, voter turnout was only 69% on 3 February the lowest since the 1958 elections. For the second round of the presidential elections it fell to 60%, the lowest since 1949.[9]

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. ^ Nohlen, p. 150.
  3. ^ "Election profile: Costa Rica". International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 1 September 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  4. ^ Landsford, Tom (20 March 2014). Political Handbook of the World 2014. ISBN 9781483386263. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  5. ^ Landsford, Tom (2 April 2012). Political Handbook of the World 2012. ISBN 9781608719952. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  6. ^ Greenspana, Eliot; Gill, Nicholas; O'Malley, Charlie; Gilsenan, Patrick; Perill, Jisel. Elecciones legislativas de Costa Rica de 2002. Frommer's Central America.
  7. ^ a b c d "5 February 2002 Legislative Assembly Election Results - Costa Rica Totals". Election Resources. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  8. ^ Lopez, Jaime (18 July 2013). "Civic Groups Move Against Gay Marriage in Costa Rica". Costa Rica Star. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  9. ^ Nohlen, pp. 156–157.