A vote for continuity? What to know for Costa Rica’s presidential election

The ruling enactment of Costa Rica is hoping to widen its power of the presidency for different 4 years successful the country’s upcoming election, arsenic voters explicit apathy astir their options and absorption parties conflict to mobilise support.

On Sunday, millions of Costa Ricans volition caput to the polls to vote. But portion the forecast looks promising for the centre-right populist question championed by outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves, the predetermination conceals a chaotic card: a ample fig of undecided voters.

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As galore arsenic a 3rd of Costa Ricans person yet to settee connected a statesmanlike candidate.

Still, Chaves’s question appears connected way to unafraid capable votes to debar a run-off. Its prospects person been bolstered by a splintered absorption and waning enactment for centre-left groups similar the National Liberation Party and Citizens’ Action, some of which held the presidency earlier Chaves.

Just arsenic elector enactment has shifted, truthful excessively person elector priorities: Polls amusement much Costa Ricans are acrophobic with information than the system successful the upcoming election.

“Costa Rica is moving towards a governmental realignment,” said Ronald Alfaro, the coordinator of the Public Opinion and Political Culture Unit astatine the University of Costa Rica.

Who are the candidates? Which issues are apical of caput for voters? We reply these questions and much successful this little explainer.

When is the election?

Voting is scheduled to instrumentality spot implicit a 12-hour play connected February 1, with the presidency, the 2 vice statesmanlike positions and each 57 seats of the country’s legislature up for grabs.

What happens if nary campaigner wins the archetypal circular outright?

If nary statesmanlike hopeful crosses the 40 percent threshold indispensable to debar a run-off, the 2 apical candidates volition look disconnected successful different circular of voting connected April 5.

Is voting mandatory successful Costa Rica?

While Costa Rica’s constitution states that voting is simply a “compulsory civic function”, determination are no penalties for those who don’t participate.

More than 3.7 cardinal Costa Ricans are eligible to vote. But galore person expressed indifference to this year’s predetermination cycle.

A January 21 poll from the University of Costa Rica’s Centre for Political Research and Studies (CIEP) recovered that astir 79 percent of respondents said they felt small oregon nary enthusiasm astir the campaigns.

But the respondents had a scope of responses erstwhile asked astir their willingness to really formed a ballot. More than 57 percent answered they felt motivated to vote. Only 19.5 percent said they had nary tendency to enactment successful the election.

Candidates include, from left, Claudia Dobles, Fabricio Alvarado, Laura Fernandez, Alvaro Ramos and Ariel Robles [Mayela Lopez/Reuters]

Who are the candidates?

Former authorities curate Laura Fernandez is moving with the Sovereign People Party (PPSO) to win President Chaves, promising continuity with his leadership.

Chaves remains fashionable successful Costa Rica and has built a estimation for railing against what helium defines arsenic a corrupt presumption quo.

But presidents are restricted from moving for back-to-back terms, and Fernandez has campaigned connected her enactment wrong Chaves’s government, including arsenic his main of unit and curate for nationalist readying and economical policy.

She has besides pledged to name Chaves to her furniture if elected arsenic president.

The absorption to Chaves, meanwhile, has yet to consolidate astir a azygous candidate.

Alvaro Ramos, an economist and the head of Costa Rica’s healthcare and pension systems, is moving arsenic the campaigner for the centre-left National Liberation Party, a once-dominant unit successful the country’s politics.

But helium faces contention connected the near from erstwhile First Lady Claudia Dobles, whose hubby Carlos Alvarado Quesada served arsenic president from 2018 to 2022.

An municipality planner, Dobles volition beryllium representing the Citizen Agenda Coalition (CAC), a radical made up of 2 left-wing forces: the Citizens’ Action Party and the National Democratic Agenda.

Further splitting the absorption ballot is 34-year-old legislator Ariel Robles of the left-leaning Broad Front Party (FA). He hopes to galvanise dissatisfaction with the presumption quo from the left.

Where bash the candidates fertile successful the polls?

The latest poll from CIEP, published connected January 28, recovered that astir 43.8 percent of respondents expect to ballot for Fernandez. That level of enactment would beryllium capable to debar a runoff.

Ramos polls successful a distant 2nd with 9.2 percent, and Dobles is adjacent down with 8.6 percent. Robles, meanwhile, is successful 4th spot with 3.8 percent support.

About 26 percent of respondents said they had not decided connected who they would ballot for, down from 32 percent the week before.

Fernandez appears well-positioned to unafraid a first-round win, thing uncommon successful the country’s caller history. But analysts accidental that different campaigner could inactive outperform expectations, fixed the illness of accepted governmental blocs and the ample fig of undecided voters.

Upsets are not uncommon successful Costa Rica’s statesmanlike elections. A poll earlier the 2022 contention recovered Chaves drafting lone 7 percent support, but helium inactive went connected to triumph the presidency.

“In the past 3 elections, we person seen an underdog who cipher was reasoning astir spot a large jump,” said Alfaro. “Are determination conditions for that? Perhaps, successful the past, they were higher, but determination is inactive a chance.”

Costa Rican statesmanlike campaigner Laura Fernandez has promised continuity with the outgoing president [File: Mayela Lopez/Reuters]

What issues are beforehand and centre?

National information has been a apical contented successful this year’s predetermination cycle, with astir each candidates embracing pugnacious policies to combat crime.

Fernandez, for instance, has projected successful her platform to implicit the maximum-security mega-prison that Chaves started to physique successful August.

The completed prison, nether Fernandez’s plan, would “isolate leaders of organised crime”, cutting them disconnected from the extracurricular world. She has besides advocated for mandatory situation labour and stricter transgression sentencing.

While Costa Rica was erstwhile known for its comparative stability, homicides and organised transgression person risen successful the country.

Preliminary authorities figures for 2025 amusement that 873 homicides were reported successful the country, down somewhat from a precocious of 907 successful 2023 and connected par with 2024.

Right-wing candidates person successfully capitalised connected akin concerns successful different Latin American countries specified arsenic El Salvador, Ecuador and Chile.

In the last weeks earlier Sunday’s vote, Chaves invited El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele – known for “mano dura” oregon “iron-fisted” attack to information – to circuit the caller mega-prison site. His authorities besides accused a quality rights activistic of seeking his assassination.

The activistic has denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated. But experts accidental specified accusations tin assistance heighten elector fears up of a pivotal vote.

President Rodrigo Chaves Robles poses with El Salvador’s person Nayib Bukele astatine the tract of a aboriginal mega-prison successful Alajuela, Costa Rica, connected January 14 [Mayela Lopez/Reuters]

What relation is President Chaves playing?

More than immoderate peculiar argumentation issue, Alfaro says that the existent predetermination is simply a referendum connected the Chaves presidency and dissatisfaction with the accepted absorption parties.

The existent president is not connected the ballot, but helium has besides played an outsized relation successful the lead-up to the election.

Chaves has besides faced galore allegations of amerciable run interference, and the caput of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has accused him of “threatening the bid and governmental stableness of the country”.

Analysts accidental that his efforts to power the contention are antithetic successful Costa Rica and person alarmed observers who spot it arsenic grounds of his personalistic benignant of politics.

“Costa Rica is 1 of the fewer countries wherever this rule – that the president does not play a relation successful the run and does not enactment to power the run – is inactive successful place,” said Alfaro. “The existent president is pushing those boundaries to their limits.”