Q COSTARICA — After reiterating that voting is secret, the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciónes (Costa Rica’s Electoral Tribunal) indicated that individuals caught using cell phones at polling stations could have their votes annulled.
“We are facing a legal provision that must be respected by all citizens based on the principle of respect for the law,” stated Gerardo Abarca Guzmán, the Director General of the Electoral Registry, at a press conference held Friday morning.
“There is an explicit prohibition regarding the use of devices that can capture images, and all electoral officials are aware of this regulation and will ensure that no image-capture device is used in order to guarantee the secrecy of the vote,” said Abarca.
The law allows individuals to express their opinions outside of polling stations; Voters can even vote while wearing flags or t-shirts of the party they support, but they cannot show their ballot.
“If the person voting shows the ballot, shows their vote, and says who they voted for inside the polling place, that is grounds for invalidating that vote,” added Eugenia Zamora, president of the TSE.
Furthermore, voters will have only two minutes to cast their vote at the polling place.
The following are the ballots, from the TSE website, to elect the president and the 57 legislators from the seven provinces:
