QCOSTARICA – The general elections in Costa Rica to elect the President and the 57 legislators is on Sunday, February 6. However, the final results will not be official until a day or two later, the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) -Supreme Electoral Tribunal – said on Monday.
The TSE said it will start the vote counting at 6:00 pm when the polls close on Sunday and continue until noon on Monday, February 7. During that 18 hour period, the polling station members and electoral assistants will send the TSE the result of the vote count for each of the polling stations.
“It is a race against time for the TSE,” Héctor Fernández, director of the Electoral Registry, explained that this closure is adjusted to the electoral calendar that indicates that, no later than February 8, the final count of ballots must begin.
After noon on Monday, the TSE will start receiving the physical ballots to begin the final count of the vote for president and vice presidents to begin on February 8 at 8 am, and from that moment, the TSE has 30 days to make a definitive declaration of the result. The scrutiny of the election of legislators can be extended until April 7, according to the Electoral Code.
Weeks ago, the president of the TSE, Eugenia Zamora, warned that the record of candidates could mean a delay in the start of data transmission and that it is possible that by 8 pm on election day numbers will start to be received.
Fernandez added that the “peak” hour for data transmission starts around 9 pm. In addition, he indicated that at the end of the provisional count, defined for Monday noon, 95% of the counted tables are usually reached, but there is no established minimum.
For the 2022 elections, 25 candidates fill the slate for the position of President. For a winner to be declared, at least one of the candidates must obtain at least 40% of the votes. In the event that none of the candidates obtain the threshold, the most likely outcome on February 6, the two candidates with the most votes will square off each other on Sunday, April 3.
