1974 Costa Rican general election

1974 Costa Rican general election

3 February 1974
Turnout	79.9%
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 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 Vote % Seats +/– PLN Daniel Oduber Quirós 40.9% 27 −5 UN Fernando Trejos Escalante 24.7% 16 −6 PNI Jorge González Martén 10% 6 New Democratic Renovation Party (Costa Rica) 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.

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 3 February 1974. 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%.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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. The far-right Free Costa Rica Movement also made a very expensive campaign against Mora's party on the media at the time.

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.

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 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 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

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)	281,067	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