1953 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 26 July 1953.[1] José Figueres Ferrer of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 67.2 percent in the presidential election and 67.5 percent in the parliamentary election.[2]

1953 Costa Rican general election

26 July 1953
Turnout	67%
Presidential election
Nominee José Figueres Fernando Castro Cervantes Party PLN Democratic Home state Alajuela San José Popular vote 294,016 67,324 Percentage 64.7% 35.3%
Results by canton
President before election Otilio Ulate PUN Elected President José Figueres PLN
Legislative election
Party Leader % Seats ± PLN José Figueres Ferrer 64.7% 30 New Democratic Fernando Castro Cervantes 21.2% 11 +9 PRN Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia 7.2% 3 +3 PUN Otilio Ulate Blanco 6.9% 1 -33 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

This was Costa Rica's first election since the end of the 1948 Civil War, and democratic guarantees were not fully restored.

José Figueres, the caudillo of the victorious National Liberation Army faction in the Civil War, was the candidate of the newly founded National Liberation Party (PLN).[3] Liberal Mario Echandi tried to be the candidate from then-ruling National Union Party (PUN), but his candidacy was denied by the Electoral Tribunal due to purported irregularities in the adherents' signatures.[3] This move was highly criticized by Figueres' opponents as an action in favor of Figueres' candidacy.[3]

As PUN was unable to participate, the only other candidacy alternate to Figueres was made by the Democratic Party, which nominated wealthy industrial magnate Fernando Castro Cervantes.[3] The three parties—PLN, PUN and Democratic—were all formerly united in opposition against the 1940s governments of Rafael Angel Calderón and his allies, who were viewed as having caused the civil war. Yet, after the war, such unification ceased.[3]

The losing sides in the civil war, mostly the Republicans (Calderón supporters) and the Communists, were unable to participate as the Republicans' party was disbanded and the Communist Party was constitutionally outlawed.[3] The Republicans were nonetheless allowed to participate in the legislative ballot with a provincial party in San José called the "Independent" Republican Party, and thereby gained some seats. As expected, Figueres won by a landslide victory.[3]

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	José Figueres Ferrer	National Liberation Party	123,444	64.7
	Fernando Castro Cervantes	Democratic Party	67,324	35.3
Invalid/blank votes			6,721	–
Total			197,489	100
Registered voters/turnout			295,925	67
Source: Nohlen

By province

Province	Figueres %	Castro %
San José Province	64.1	35.9
Alajuela	67.8	32.2
Cartago	75.0	25.0
Heredia	62.5	37.5
Puntarenas	58.4	41.6
Limón	54.4	45.6
Guanacaste	57.9	42.1
Total	64.7	35.3

Popular Vote National Liberation   64.7% Democratic   35.3%

Parliament

Popular Vote
National Liberation			64.7%
Democratic			21.2%
Ind. National Republican			7.2%
National Union			6.9%

Seats
National Liberation			66.7%
Democratic			24.4%
Ind. National Republican			6.6%
National Union			2.23%

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Liberation Party	114,043	64.7	30	+27
	Democratic Party	67,324	21.2	11	New
	Independent National Republican Party	12,696	7.2	3	New
	National Union Party	12,069	6.9	1	–33
Invalid/blank votes		22,140	–	–	–
Total		198,270	100	45	0
Registered voters/turnout		295,925	67	–	–
Source: TSE

By province

Province	PLN		PD		PRN		PUN
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
San José	64.7	10	11.4	2	17.3	3	6.6	1
Alajuela	67.8	6	26.4	2	-	-	5.7	0
Cartago	75.5	5	18.2	1	-	-	6.3	0
Heredia	62.2	2	31.1	1	-	-	6.3	0
Puntarenas	59.1	3	36.0	2	-	-	4.9	0
Limón	55.0	1	30.7	1	-	-	14.3	0
Guanacaste	53.2	3	36.0	2	-	-	10.8	0
Total	64.7	30	21.2	11	7.2	3	6.9	1

Local governments

Alderpeople
National Liberation			68.78%
Democratic			27.00%
National Republican			2.11%
National Union			2.11%

Municipal Syndics
National Liberation			95.68%
Democratic			4.32%

Parties		Popular vote		Alderpeople	Municipal Syndics
		Votes	%	Total	Total
	National Liberation Party (PLN)	115,553	64,58	163	310
	Democratic Party (PD)	42,002	23,47	64	14
	Independent National Republican Party (PRN)	10,641	5,95	5	0
	National Union Party (PUN)	10,636	5,94	5	0
	Turrialba Independent Union Party (PUIT)	103	0,06	0	0
Total		178,935	100.00	237	324
Invalid votes		19,381	6.60
Votes cast / turnout		198,316	67.53
Abstentions		95,362	32,47
Registered voters		293,678	100%
Sources[4]

Ballot

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References

1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
2. Nohlen, p156
3. Hernández Naranjo, Gerardo. "Reseña de las elecciones presidenciales de 1953" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 13 April 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. "Elecciones Regidurías 1953". tse.go.cr (in Spanish). Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Retrieved 21 May 2020.