Khalid K in concert
8 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum, north end of Ca. 4. Info: 2258-4929, www.museocr.com . 

Art openings at Children's Museum
Charlsie Kelly's “ La Sagrada Familia y Santos Varios ” and “ Adornos de Reciclaje ,” mosaic-style, watercolors, opening 7 p.m., and drawings by Lucille Colin, through Feb. 28, National Gallery, Children's Museum.

Documentary El Circo Fantazztico
About a Group of at-risk children who traveled to Europe practicing circus arts, 7 p.m., Centro de Cine, Barrio Amón. Info: 2223-2127, 2223-0610, www.centrodecine.go.cr .

Malpaís in concert
Trova, 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro. Info: 2253-8933.

Tango night
With singers and dancers, 8 p.m., Como en Casa Restaurant, Alajuela, Plaza Real Alajuela. Info: 2441-7607.

Who can vote? Any citizen 18 years old or older and present in the country during the time of the election can vote. There is no absentee voting in Costa Rica. The voter must show his or her cédula, or national identification card.

How do I vote? You can find out where your polling station is by visiting www.tse.go.cr and clicking on the Dónde Votar tab. You will be prompted to enter your name or cédula number. Polls are open between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

How are legislators elected?
There are no direct elections of legislators in Costa Rica . Instead, lawmakers in the country's 57-seat Legislative Assembly are decided according to the number of votes cast for each party. The country is divided into seven provinces, each with a predetermined number of seats in the legislature: San José (20), Alajuela (11), Cartago (7), Heredia (5), Guanacaste (4), Limón (5) and Puntarenas (5). Voters select among the competing parties and the percentage of votes those parties receive determines which candidates – preselected by the parties – will fill the regional seats.

How are presidential candidates selected?
Each party selects its candidate either through an internal election in which all party delegates vote or through a primary election. Both the National Liberation Party (PLN) and Citizen Action Party (PAC) held primary elections. Former PLN Vice President Laura Chinchilla beat out San José Mayor Johnny Araya to capture her party's nomination, and economist and three-time presidential candidate Ottón Solís won the PAC nomination.

Could the presidential election go into a second round?
Under the Election Code, the leading candidate must get 40 percent or more of the votes to avoid a runoff election. If no candidate receives more than 40 percent of the vote, the elections move into a second round (scheduled for April 3 an 4. The two candidates with the most votes face off in a second round.

How much is budgeted for the 2010 election and a possible runoff?
The Supreme Elections Tribunal has set aside ₡ 7.85 billion ($14,060,558) for the Feb. 7 election and ₡ 1.35 billion ($2.4 million) for a possible runoff.

When will we know the results?
As soon as the polls close on Sunday, Feb. 7, the final count will be sent via computers and telephones from the country's 6,617 polling stations. The results will be posted on the Supreme Elections Tribunal Web site: www.tse.go.cr, beginning at 8 p.m.

An analysis by a Costa Rican environmentalist group, CO2 Neutral 2021, scored Citizen Action Party (PAC) presidential candidate Ottón Solís higher than all of his contenders in environmental matters.

The study, which gauged candidates' environmental platforms, awarded Solís 70 percent of the available points. Solís earned high marks in urban transportation, land use, biodiversity and reforestation, some of the one dozen categories that the study measured.

The National Liberation Party (PLN) race front-runner, Laura Chinchilla, came in third with her environmental promises – behind the Broad Front Party – garnering 44 percent. She earned the most points in her proposals for industry control and waste water treatment.

Otto Guevara, of the Libertarian Movement Party, followed Chinchilla with 40 percent. He received high scores for his pledges for available, clean water.

The study's 12 categories were weighted and broken into 25 indicators, similar to Yale and Columbia University's Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which was released last week. The index ranked Costa Rica third out of 163 nations. The analysis gave the greatest weight to categories related to climate change, such as the energy and agriculture sectors. All together, the five categories that the study determined to be related to climate change accounted for 50 percent of the available points.

The analysis concluded that none of the candidates' platforms contain specific political actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the livestock, refrigeration and cement sectors, which account for 26 percent of Costa Rica's total annual emissions, according to the group.

Luis Fishman, of the Social Christian Unity Party, finished with 31 percent. The National Renovation Party and the Access Without Exclusion Party came in last with 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on Monday for the first time since lawmakers recessed for the holidays on Dec. 22.

With the presidential elections dominating the political scene, they agreed to delay deliberations until Feb. 8, the day immediately following elections.

Congressmen will return to an agenda set by the administration of Oscar Arias in a period of time known as “extraordinary session.”

Top on Arias' list is the passage of the final law needed to implement the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), which governs copyright law. Reforms to the transit law and the creation of a sports ministry are also high on the agenda.

He also plans on sending a series of initiatives to commissions, which include a proposed tax on casinos, a request for funding for infrastructure projects in the north of the country and a bill to simplify rules relating to marinas.

However, just because a topic made it onto Arias' agenda, it doesn't mean it will materialize under his administration. The CAFTA copyright legislation alone had 121 motions tagged to it before the December break.

Each motion must be discussed and voted on in commission and then allowed 45 minutes of debate on the floor of the assembly, independent legislator Evita Arguedas told The Tico Times in January. “The process in the Legislative Assembly is very extensive,” she said (TT, Jan. 15).

Arias, along with the 57 members of the Assembly, are due to leave office in three months.