1974 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 3 February 1974.[1] Daniel Oduber Quirós of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 79.9%.[2]

1974 Costa Rican general election
3 February 1974
Turnout79.9%
 
Nominee Daniel Oduber Fernando Trejos
Party PLN UN
Home state San José San José
Popular vote 294,609 206,149
Percentage 43.4% 30.4%
 
Nominee Jorge González Martén Rodrigo Carazo Odio
Party National Independent Democratic Renovation
Home state San José Cartago
Popular vote 73,788 61,820
Percentage 10.9% 9.1%
In green provinces won by Oduber
President before election

José Figueres
PLN

 Elected President

Daniel Oduber
PLN

Legislative election
Party Leader % Seats ±
PLN Daniel Oduber Quirós 40.9% 27 -5
UN Fernando Trejos Escalante 24.7% 16 -6
PNI Jorge González Martén 10% 6 New
PRD Rodrigo Carazo Odio 7.7% 3 New
PASO Manuel Mora Valverde 4.4% 2 New
PRN Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier 4.9% 1 New
Democratic Gerardo Villalobos Garita 2.1% 1 New
PUAC Juan Guillermo Brenes Castillo 1.2% 1 New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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The Left was theoretically outlawed as the Constitution didn't allow the existence of Marxist parties, but the prohibition was not endorsed in practice by that time and even was lifted with a Constitutional reform for the next election.[3]

Campaign

The government was affected in its popularity by the “Vesco Case” a corruption case involving then president José Figueres and his dubious connections with international criminal Robert Vesco, which caused heat for ruling party's candidate Daniel Oduber.[3] Rodrigo Carazo, a former member of PLN and Congressman run as an independent candidate. Carazo had problems with Figueres when they both face each other in a primary election previously. Carazo promised to expel Vesco if he won, he also received the endorsement of former president José Trejos.[3]

Another heated issue was Communism in general, as the election was in the middle of the Cold War. Topics like the diplomatic relationships with the USSR (which candidate Jorge González Martén swear will end in his government). The Catholic Church made a public statement criticizing both Communism and savage Capitalism and calling for a third option.[3] Both PLN (Social Democrats) and the Christian Democratic Party claim to be that option. The traditional Left represented by Manuel Mora’s Socialist Action Party defended itself arguing that a previous archbishop Victor Manuel Sanabria expressed that Costa Rican Catholics had no quarrel in being members of the Communist Party.[3] The far-right Free Costa Rica Movement also made a very expensive campaign against Mora's party on the media at the time.[3]

Another notorious candidate was Gerardo Wenceslao Villalobos, aka GW, a very eccentric candidate nominated by the Democratic Party. Villalobos did a lot of crazy stunts and unusual activities for a candidate, like boxing and wrestling matches or trying to jump in parachute.[3]

Results

President
Candidate Party Votes %
Daniel Oduber QuirósNational Liberation Party294,60943.4
Fernando Trejos EscalanteNational Unification Party206,14930.4
Jorge González MarténNational Independent Partyes73,78810.9
Rodrigo Carazo OdioDemocratic Renewal Partyes61,8209.2
Gerardo Villalobos GaritaDemocratic Party18,8322.8
Manuel Mora ValverdeSocialist Action Partyes16,0812.4
Jorge Arturo Monge ZamoraChristian Democratic Partyes3,4610.5
José Francisco Aguilar BulgarelliCosta Rican Socialist Partyes3,4170.5
Invalid/blank votes21,163–
Total699,340100
Registered voters/turnout875,04179.9
Source: Nohlen; Election Resources

By province
Province Oduber % Trejos % González % Carazo % Villalobos % Mora % Monge % Aguilar %
 San José 42.7 29.4 9.0 12.2 3.8 2.0 0.5 0.5
 Alajuela 45.6 28.4 12.5 9.8 1.7 1.1 0.4 0.5
 Cartago 43.6 29.4 15.9 5.9 2.7 1.5 0.6 0.5
 Heredia 42.9 29.9 11.0 9.5 3.0 2.5 0.7 0.4
 Puntarenas 39.5 36.3 11.0 4.5 2.2 5.5 0.5 0.5
 Limón 38.8 39.4 7.7 3.4 2.4 7.1 0.5 0.6
 Guanacaste 49.6 30.0 11.5 4.9 0.8 2.0 0.8 0.5
Total 43.4 30.4 10.9 9.1 2.8 2.4 0.5 0.5
Popular Vote
National Liberation
 
 43.4%
National Unification
 
 30.4%
National Independent
 
 10.9%
Democratic Renovation
 
 9.1%
Democratic
 
 2.8%
Socialist Action
 
 2.4%
Christian Democratic
 
 0.5%
Costa Rican Socialist
 
 0.5%

Parliament
Popular Vote
National Liberation
 
 40.9%
National Unification
 
 24.7%
National Independent
 
 10%
Democratic Renewal
 
 7.7%
National Republican
 
 4.9%
Socialist Action
 
 4.4%
Democratic
 
 2.1%
Christian Democratic
 
 2.1%
Cartago Agrarian Union
 
 1.2%
Other
 
 2%
Seats
National Liberation
 
 47.4%
National Unification
 
 28.1%
National Independent
 
 10.6%
Democratic Renewal
 
 5.3%
Socialist Action
 
 3.5%
National Republican
 
 1.7%
Democratic
 
 1.7%
Cartago Agrarian Union
 
 1.7%
Party Votes % Seats +/–
National Liberation Party271,86740.927-5
National Unification Party164,32324.716-6
National Independent Partyes66,22210.06New
Democratic Renewal Partyes51,0827.73New
National Republican Party32,4754.91New
Socialist Action Partyes29,3104.420
Democratic Party14,1612.11New
Christian Democratic Partyes13,8802.10-1
Cartago Agrarian Union Party8,0741.21+1
Costa Rican Socialist Partyes6,0320.90New
Costa Rican Peoples' Front4,4480.70New
Independent Party3,2820.50New
Invalid/blank votes34,078–––
Total699,042100570
Registered voters/turnout875,04179.9––
Source: TSE; Election Resources

By province
Province PLN PUN PNI PRD PRN PASO PD PDC PUAC PSC FPCR PI
% S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S
 San José 40.1 9 23.4 5 8.7 2 10.1 2 5.6 1 4.3 1 2.8 1 1.7 0 - - 1.4 0 1.4 0 0.6 0
 Alajuela 44.3 5 25.1 3 11.9 2 9.2 1 2.7 0 1.9 0 3.0 0 0.8 0 - - 0.8 0 - - 0.3 0
 Cartago 38.1 3 23.6 2 11.9 1 3.9 0 2.7 0 2.3 0 1.3 0 3.8 0 11.1 1 0.6 0 - - 0.7 0
 Heredia 41.1 2 22.7 1 9.8 0 7.4 0 7.4 0 5.7 0 1.5 0 3.5 0 - - 0.7 0 - - 0.3 0
 Puntarenas 38.3 3 29.8 2 10.6 1 4.0 0 5.7 0 7.3 1 1.1 0 1.4 0 - - 0.5 0 0.8 0 0.6 0
 Limón 36.9 2 32.6 1 7.1 0 2.3 0 5.0 0 13.9 0 0.9 0 0.8 0 - - - - - - 0.5 0
 Guanacaste 46.0 3 23.9 2 10.4 1 5.1 0 5.8 0 3.2 0 0.4 0 4.4 0 - - 0.3 0 - - 0.3 0
Total 40.9 27 24.7 16 10.0 6 7.7 3 4.9 1 4.4 2 2.1 1 2.1 0 1.2 1 0.9 0 0.7 0 0.5 0

Local governments

Vote percentage

  PLN (42.44%)
  PUN (26.30%)
  PNI (10.24%)
  PRD (8.61%)
  PRN (4.61%)
  PASO (4.17%)
  PDC (2.15%)
  PSC (0.71%)
  PD (0.37%)
  FPCR (0.24%)
  PI (0.16%)
Parties Popular vote Alderpeople Municipal Syndics
Votes % ±pp Total +/- Total +/-
National Liberation Party (PLN) 281,06742.44-9.56 225+38350+34
National Unification Party (PUN) 174,17826.30-11.08 150+1737-9
National Independent Party (PNI) 67,80210.24New 48New2New
Democratic Renewal Party (PRD) 57,0368.61New 24New0New
National Republican Party (PRN) 30,5514.61New 12New1New
Socialist Action Party (PASO) 27,6144.17+0.40 8+400
Christian Democratic Party (PDC) 14,2152.15-0.34 0-200
Costa Rican Socialist Party (PSC) 4,7200.71New 0New0New
Democratic Party (PD) 2,4560.37New 0New0New
Costa Rican Peoples' Front (FPCR) 1,5880.24New 0New0New
Independent Party (PI) 1,0350.16New 0New0New
Total 662,262100.00-467+138390+27
Invalid votes 36,9495.28
Votes cast / turnout 699,21179.02
Abstentions 175,83020.98
Registered voters 875,041100%
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, p157
  3. Hernández Naranjo, Gerardo. "Reseña de las elecciones presidenciales de 1974" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-16. Retrieved 13 April 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Elecciones Regidurías 1974". tse.go.cr (in Spanish). Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
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