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06 Feb 2006 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 06, 2006
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Close Election Still Undetermined,
Vote Counting Continues
In Sunday's unexpectedly close presidential election with vote-counting continuing late into the night, National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate Oscar Arias was ahead with 484,789 votes (40.8%), followed by Citizen Action Party (PAC) candidate Ottón Solís, with 476,497 votes (40.1%), as of 2 a.m. Monday, when 74.8% of votes had been counted, according to the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) Web site.
(Click for more)
Children Cast Their
Vote for President
Some of Costa Rica 's smallest citizens, children under 18, lined up outside San José 's Children's Museum yesterday to cast their vote for President in a national children's election. The winner: National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate Oscar Arias with 8,993 votes. Citizen Action Party (PAC) candidate Ottón Solís came in second with 6,001 votes, followed by Libertarian Movement candidate Otto Guevara with 5,719 votes.
(Click for more)
Election Day Sees
Low Voter Turnout
The majority of Costa Rica 's polling places experienced low voter turnout for the country's general elections yesterday.
(Click for more)
February 06
Alicia Sampayo and Darío Dorzi
Champion ballroom dancers from Argentina, performance with Costa Rican dancers, Feb. 9, Tokú, Escazú, west of San José, workshops, Feb. 6-9, ProDanza, Pavas, west of San José. Info: 290-2271.
2nd Ceramics Contest
Opens March 2 at National Gallery, Children's Museum, artists may drop off their works Feb. 6-10 at Habitarte Gallery. Contest rules at www.habitarte.net. Info: 222-7932, 220-4800.
Art Exhibit Opening
Juan Carlos Hernández exhibits ceramics, textiles and paintings, Feb. 6-25, at the José Figueres Ferrer Cultural Center, San Ramón, Alajuela, northwest of San José.
Little Theatre Group Open House
Featuring “Lettice and Lovage” preview, in English, Feb. 6, 7-9 p.m., at Blanche Brown Theatre, Escazú. Info: 355-1623.
Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Close Election Still Undetermined,
Vote Counting Continues
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
In Sunday's unexpectedly close presidential election with vote-counting continuing late into the night, National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate Oscar Arias was ahead with 484,789 votes (40.8%), followed by Citizen Action Party (PAC) candidate Ottón Solís, with 476,497 votes (40.1%), as of 2 a.m. Monday, when 74.8% of votes had been counted, according to the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) Web site.
Libertarian Movement candidate Otto Guevara was in third place with 99,402 votes (8.4%). Of the remaining 11 candidates, none won more than 3.5% of votes.
TSE director Fernando Vísquez told Channel 7 TSE would release an updated count at 3 a.m. Monday and resume counting votes at 7 a.m., when ballots waiting to be flown in from precincts far from San José arrived to the tribunal. As of press time, votes from 600 San José precincts also still remained uncounted.
The close margin between Arias and Solís contradicted what polls had previously indicated for the election's outcome. Before last week, Arias had a consistently strong lead in polls, but last week Solís gained ground while Arias slipped, suggesting the possibility that neither candidate would obtain the 40% of votes required to win the elections without a second round (TT Online, Feb. 3).
Last night's results confirmed that a second round would not be necessary as the country watched Arias and Solís vie neck-and-neck with just a decimal of a percentage point separating them.
PAC Vice Presidential candidate Epsy Campbell said poll makers erred by producing results showing Arias with a strong lead and that they should ask for the country's forgiveness.
Meanwhile Arias supporters remained certain of their candidate's soon-to-be-proven victory.
Both parties awaited results late into the night while their supporters rallied at their respective San José headquarters.
Costa Rican voters yesterday chose among 14 presidential candidates to replace President Abel Pacheco in Casa Presidential May 8.
Children Cast Their Vote for President
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Some of Costa Rica 's smallest citizens, children under 18, lined up outside San José 's Children's Museum yesterday to cast their vote for President in a national children's election. The winner: National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate Oscar Arias with 8,993 votes. Citizen Action Party (PAC) candidate Ottón Solís came in second with 6,001 votes, followed by Libertarian Movement candidate Otto Guevara with 5,719 votes.
The children's election, modeled after Costa Rica 's general election held the same day, was organized by the Ombudsman's Office and the National Committee for the Recovery of Values and held in 12 polling places throughout Costa Rica.
Though the children's votes didn't count toward the general election, many young voters said the act of voting was a statement in itself.
“It's important that children have the right to vote and that we elect a President who knows what's good and bad for the country,” said Rafael Fernández, 9, who came to the Children's Museum from his home in Desamparados, south of San José, with his mother and younger brother to vote.
Though come schools and the Costa Rican Journalists' Association have held children's elections in the past, this year's elections were conducted on a much larger scale, said Children's Museum spokesman Adrian Granados. Voter turnout exceeded planners' expectations; a total of 22,842 children voted in the 12 precincts.
The idea behind the children's elections is that kids learn about the voting process and why it's so important, Granados said.
“We want children to learn the civic vales fundamental to a democratic society,” he said. “Children are not just the future, they're here today, and we should listen to what they have to say.”
The process children followed to vote closely mocked that of the general election.
After watching a brief video on how to vote, children were grouped by their last names and ushered into different voting rooms where they stood behind a cardboard screen marked “My Vote is Secret” and drew an x beside the candidate of their choice on a ballet identical to those used in the general election. The candidates' photos and party colors beside their names made the ballots accessible to children who cannot yet read, Granados said.
In addition to receiving a hands-on lesson in democracy, young voters enjoyed games, clowns and activities that turned the museum into a daylong voting carnival.
Election Day Sees Low Voter Turnout
The majority of Costa Rica 's polling places experienced low voter turnout for the country's general elections yesterday.
From 6 a.m.- 6 p.m., about 2.5 million Costa Ricans came to the polls to elect a new President, two vice-presidents, 57 legislators and 81 municipal authorities.
Almost 35% of eligible voters did not vote in this year's elections.
Approximately 11,000 police officers kept the peace yesterday while 80 international observers watched over the election. The country's “dry law” prohibiting the distribution of alcohol until Monday at midnight, was also in place.
TSE president Oscar Fonseca told to the press that the only anomaly on Election Day was a fire in the TSE building, which was put out by firefighters.
This year's general elections were the third in which prisoners in the country's 14 penal centers could vote.
This year also marked the first time 33 residents of the Isla del Coco, an island in the Pacific Ocean, 500 kilometers off the coast, could vote on their home turf.
-ACAN-EFE
