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Costa Rican Election Could Need Second Round
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Laura Chinchilla is barely ahead of the mark that would prevent Costa Rica’s presidential election from going into a second round, according to a poll by Unimer published in La Nación. 41.9 per cent of respondents would vote for the candidate of the ruling Liberal National Party (PLN) in this weekend’s ballot, up one points since mid-January.
Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement (ML) is second with 22.9 per cent, followed by former economy minister Ottón Solís of the Citizens Action Party (PAC) with 19.9 per cent, and Luis Fishman of the Social Christian Unity Party (PUCS) with 5.7 per cent.
Under current regulations, a presidential run-off would be required if none of the presidential candidates garner more than 40 per cent of the vote on election day.
The PLN’s Óscar Arias won the February 2006 presidential election with 40.92 per cent of all cast ballots. Solís finished in second place with 39.80 per cent. Arias had headed the government from 1986 to 1990, and was able to run again after the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly opted to bring back presidential re-election in 2003. He was sworn in for the second time in May 2006.
Chinchilla served as one of two of Arias’s vice-presidents.
On Feb. 3, Chinchilla discussed the perils of drug trafficking, saying that it represents a threat to Costa Rica and adding, "It is in Central America where the last battle against organized crime will likely be fought."
Costa Ricans will vote in a general election on Feb. 7.
Polling Data
Which of these candidates would you vote for in the 2010 presidential election?
|
|
Jan. 30 |
Jan. 12 |
Nov. 2009 |
|
Laura Chinchilla (PLN) |
41.9% |
40.9% |
43% |
|
Otto Guevara (ML) |
22.9% |
30.4% |
30% |
|
Ottón Solís (PAC) |
19.9% |
13.7% |
16% |
|
Luis Fishman (PUSC) |
5.7% |
5.9% |
6% |
|
Other / None / Not sure |
9.6% |
9.1% |
5% |
Source: Unimer / La Nación
Methodology: Interviews with 1,322 Costa Rican adults, conducted from Jan. 24 to Jan. 30, 2010. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.
