1958 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 2 February 1958.[1] Mario Echandi Jiménez of the National Union Party won the presidential election, whilst the National Liberation Party won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 64.7%.[2]

1958 Costa Rican general election
2 February 1958
Turnout64%
 
Nominee Mario Echandi Jiménez Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich Jorge Rossi Chavarría
Party PUN PLN PI
Home state San José Alajuela Cartago
Popular vote 102,851 94,788 23,910
Percentage 46.4% 42.8% 10.8%
In green provinces won by Orlich, in blue Echandi
President before election

José Figueres
PLN

 Elected President

Mario Echandi
PUN

Legislative election
Party Leader % Seats ±
PLN Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich 41.7% 20 -10
PRN Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia 22.4% 11 +8
PUN Mario Echandi Jiménez 21.4% 10 +9
PI Jorge Rossi Chavarría 9.8% 3 New
UCR Frank Marshall Jiménez 3.3% 1 New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Echandi had become leader of the Opposition as he was elected congressman in 1953. During the tense invasion of 1955 when former president Rafael Angel Calderon's supporters and their international allies tried to invade Costa Rica's territory and were successfully repelled by José Figueres’ government, Echandi was accused of been Calderonista and been offered an office as minister from Calderón.[3] Echandi denied it but was put under investigation by the Legislative Assembly.[3] The opposition, encompassed by both Echandi's party National Union and Calderón's Independent Republican left the Assembly in protest.[3] Still Echandi was acquitted and the old loyalties before the war were starting to switch. Echandi as candidate from National Union promised to allow Calderón and family (then exiled in Mexico) to return to Costa Rica and give a general amnesty for all of Calderón's supporters. This gained him the support of the Calderonism, still a powerful political base.[3]

But, whilst PLN's opposition was closing lines, PLN was splitting. After a primary election that was won by Francisco José Orlich (one of PLN's founders and one of the leaders of the 1948 Revolution) his opponent Jorge Rossi left the party and founded a new one called Independent Party.[3] As expected, Rossi's departure and his new party caused a spoiler effect dividing the Social Democratic vote and Echandi won the election with the support of Calderonists.[3]

Echandi did fulfill his promise and allowed Calderón and family to return and passed a general amnesty for all factions.[3]

Results

President
Candidate Party Votes %
Mario Echandi JiménezNational Union Party102,85146.4
Francisco Orlich BolmarcichNational Liberation Party94,78842.8
Jorge Rossi ChavarríaIndependent Partyes23,91010.8
Invalid/blank votes7,994–
Total229,543100
Registered voters/turnout358,66164
Source: Nohlen; Election Resources

By province
Province Echandi % Orlich % Rossi %
 San José 49.0 39.6 11.5
 Alajuela 43.0 50.7 6.3
 Cartago 37.1 40.5 22.4
 Heredia 45.6 44.9 9.5
 Puntarenas 54.2 39.2 6.6
 Limón 54.1 38.9 7.0
 Guanacaste 44.8 46.7 8.5
Total 46.4 42.8 10.8
Popular Vote
National Union
 
 46.4%
National Liberation
 
 42.8%
Independent
 
 10.8%

Parliament
Popular Vote
National Liberation
 
 41.7%
National Republican
 
 22.4%
National Union
 
 21.4%
Independent
 
 9.8%
Rev. Civic Union
 
 3.3%
Dem. Opp. Movement
 
 0.7%
Democratic
 
 0.5%
Democratic Action
 
 0.3%
Seats
National Liberation
 
 44.5%
National Republican
 
 24.4%
National Union
 
 22.3%
Independent
 
 6.6%
Rev. Civic Union
 
 2.3%
Party Votes % Seats +/–
National Liberation Party86,08141.720–10
Republican Party46,17122.411+8
National Union Party44,12521.410+9
Independent Partyes20,3149.83New
Revolutionary Civic Union6,8553.31New
Democratic Opposition Movement1,4170.70New
Democratic Party9390.50–11
Democratic Action Party6140.30New
Invalid/blank votes22,991–––
Total229,543100450
Registered voters/turnout358,66164––
Source: TSE; Election Resources

By province
Province PLN PR PUN PI UCR MOD PD DAP
% S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S
 San José 37.2 6 26.7 4 19.6 3 10.1 2 5.2 1 0.8 0 0.4 0 - -
 Alajuela 50.3 4 17.1 2 24.2 2 6.0 0 1.6 0 0.4 0 0.4 0 - -
 Cartago 40.2 3 13.9 1 17.3 1 20.1 1 4.8 0 0.7 0 0.5 0 2.5 0
 Heredia 44.0 1 24.7 1 19.1 1 9.5 0 1.5 0 0.9 0 0.4 0 - -
 Puntarenas 39.2 2 26.9 2 24.9 1 6.5 0 1.2 0 0.7 0 0.7 0 - -
 Limón 40.7 1 25.5 0 26.3 1 5.4 0 1.1 0 0.7 0 0.4 0 - -
 Guanacaste 46.4 3 17.8 1 25.0 1 8.8 0 0.9 0 0.5 0 0.6 0 - -
Total 41.7 20 22.4 11 21.4 10 9.8 3 3.3 1 0.7 0 0.5 0 0.3 0

Local governments

Vote percentage

  PLN (42.53%)
  PUN (24.11%)
  PR (20.91%)
  PI (10.25%)
  UCR (1.83%)
  PRN-CAR (0.34%)
  PLI (0.02%)
Parties Popular vote Alderpeople Municipal Syndics
Votes % ±pp Total +/- Total +/-
National Liberation Party (PLN) 88,89342.53-22.05 125-38263-47
National Union Party (PUN) 50,40024.11+18.17 70+6532+32
Republican Party (PR) 43,71520.91+14.96 47+4223+23
Independent Party (PI) 21,41910.25New 12New2New
Revolutionary Civic Union (UCR) 3,8341.83New 0New0New
Cartago National Republican Party (PRN-CAR) 7200.34New 0New0New
Limonense Independent Party (PLI) 490.02New 0New0New
Total 209,030100.00-254+17320-4
Invalid votes 20,9279.10
Votes cast / turnout 229,95764.78
Abstentions 125,00535.22
Registered voters 354,962100%
Sources[4]

Ballot

References
  1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. Nohlen, p156
  3. Hernández Naranjo, Gerardo. "Reseña de las elecciones presidenciales de 1958" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 April 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Elecciones Regidurías 1953". tse.go.cr (in Spanish). Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
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