1974 Costa Rican general election

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1974 Costa Rican general election
← 1970 3 February 1974 1978 →
Turnout79.9%
  Daniel Oduber 3 (adjusted).jpg
Nominee Daniel Oduber
Party PLN UN
Home state San José San José
Popular vote 294,609 206,149
Percentage 43.4% 30.4%
  Rodrigo Carazo Odio.jpg
Nominee Jorge González Martén Rodrigo Carazo Odio
Party PRD
Home state San José Cartago
Popular vote 73,788 61,820
Percentage 10.9% 9.1%
Resultados 1974 Presidente.svg
Results by canton
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
Jorge González Martén 10% 6 New
PRD Rodrigo Carazo Odio 7.7% 3 New
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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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]

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 Quirós National Liberation Party 294,609 43.4
Fernando Trejos Escalante National Unification Party 206,149 30.4
Jorge González Martén National Independent Partyes 73,788 10.9
Rodrigo Carazo Odio Democratic Renewal Partyes 61,820 9.2
Gerardo Villalobos Garita Democratic Party 18,832 2.8
Manuel Mora Valverde Socialist Action Partyes 16,081 2.4
Jorge Arturo Monge Zamora Christian Democratic Partyes 3,461 0.5
José Francisco Aguilar Bulgarelli Costa Rican Socialist Partyes 3,417 0.5
Invalid/blank votes 21,163 –
Total 699,340 100
Registered voters/turnout 875,041 79.9
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
Oduber
 
 43.4%
Trejos
 
 30.4%
González
 
 10.9%
Carazo
 
 9.1%
Villalobos
 
 2.8%
Mora
 
 2.4%
Monge
 
 0.5%
Aguilar
 
 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%
Costa Rica Legislative Assembly 1974.svg
Party Votes % Seats +/–
National Liberation Party 271,867 40.9 27 -5
National Unification Party 164,323 24.7 16 -6
National Independent Partyes 66,222 10.0 6 New
Democratic Renewal Partyes 51,082 7.7 3 New
National Republican Party 32,475 4.9 1 New
Socialist Action Partyes 29,310 4.4 2 0
Democratic Party 14,161 2.1 1 New
Christian Democratic Partyes 13,880 2.1 0 -1
Cartago Agrarian Union Party 8,074 1.2 1 +1
Costa Rican Socialist Partyes 6,032 0.9 0 New
Costa Rican Peoples' Front 4,448 0.7 0 New
Independent Party 3,282 0.5 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 34,078 – – –
Total 699,042 100 57 0
Registered voters/turnout 875,041 79.9 – –
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[]

Alderpeople
National Liberation
 
 48.18%
National Unification
 
 32.12%
National Independent
 
 10.28%
Democratic Renewal
 
 5.14%
National Republican
 
 2.57%
Socialist Action
 
 1.71%
Municipal Syndics
National Liberation
 
 89.74%
National Unification
 
 9.48%
National Independent
 
 0.51%
National Republican
 
 0.26%
Parties Popular vote Alderpeople Municipal Syndics
Votes % ±pp Total +/- Total +/-
National Liberation Party (PLN) 281,067 42.44 -9.56 225 +38 350 +34
National Unification Party (PUN) 174,178 26.30 -11.08 150 +17 37 -9
National Independent Party (PNI) 67,802 10.24 New 48 New 2 New
Democratic Renewal Party (PRD) 57,036 8.61 New 24 New 0 New
National Republican Party (PRN) 30,551 4.61 New 12 New 1 New
Socialist Action Party (PASO) 27,614 4.17 +0.40 8 +4 0 0
Christian Democratic Party (PDC) 14,215 2.15 -0.34 0 -2 0 0
Costa Rican Socialist Party (PSC) 4,720 0.71 New 0 New 0 New
Democratic Party (PD) 2,456 0.37 New 0 New 0 New
Costa Rican Peoples' Front (FPCR) 1,588 0.24 New 0 New 0 New
Independent Party (PI) 1,035 0.16 New 0 New 0 New
Total 662,262 100.00 - 467 +138 390 +27
Invalid votes 36,949 5.28
Votes cast / turnout 699,211 79.02
Abstentions 175,830 20.98
Registered voters 875,041 100%
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. ^ a b c d e f g 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}}: 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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