Although in Costa Rica the second round voting to elect the next President doesn’t occur until Sunday morning, 123 Costa Ricans – 63 men and 60 women – in Sydney, Australia already began casting their votes.
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) – elections tribunal – has 31,896 Ticos registered to vote outside the country, at 52 consulates in 42 countries. The largest majority of Tico voters outside the country are in the United States, a total of 22,384 registered voters.
Voting takes place under the watchful eyes of TSE officials arriving at each consulate to monitor that the process is transparent and in accordance with Costa Rica’s election laws.
The second voting station to open its doors was in South Korea and third Japan.
The first Costa Rican to vote outside the country was Randal Arce, a visual artist and international tour director, who has lived in Australia for the past 10 years. He was also the first to cast a vote worldwide in the February 4 elections.
Polls in Costa Rica open at 6:00 am Sunday morning and close at 6 pm.
Sydney is 14 hours ahead (GMT+10) of Costa Rica time. Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo are 13 hours ahead (GMT+9).
