Eleciones en Costa Rica, Quien va a ganar?!

Yesterday on February 2nd the 2014 elections for Costa Rica took place. There were 15 candidates running but only four held the most competition. During the day people voted until the stations closed. They opened early in the morning and closed at 6pm. I went with my host parents to vote at a local school in Vargas Araya. There were many people at the voting stations. There were lists of names outside of the classroom. People would check to see if there name was on the wall and would enter the classroom according to where there name was. Once the person was inside the voting center (classroom) they were not permitted to have their phones, cameras, or any electronic device. They went behind cardboard boxes set up on desks and filled out a ballet for the president and the vice president. Once that was completed they showed their two ballots to the chairmen (people running the election within that classroom) and dropped the ballots into two separate boxes. That was the entire process. Unlike the United States, there weren't any computer systems that counted the ballots. It was all counted by hand.

That day the Superbowl was also going on. The game started in Costa Rica at 5:30. The gang went to Alexis's house to celebrate. We made guacamole, tortilla pizzas and had the usual chips and dips for the game. A few of us left the house early  around 6:30 in order to go down to San Pedro mall to see the celebrations going on. Nearly everyone in the San Pedro area was voting for PAC, their flag colors were red and yellow. Once we arrived at the mall, there were hundred of people crowding the streets waving their flags in the air! There was music playing and people yelling their party names! The celebration was so fun! Unfortunately though... while I was walking I fell into a "gringo trap". San Jose has many potholes littered around the city in the middle of streets and sidewalks. I scraped my knee and got to be embarrassed in front of many people (oh yay!). My knee isn't completely healed but it's getting better!

The counting of the voting was officially announced at 8:30. We were situated in the San Pedro Mall watching the screens like hawks. We learned that there was a draw. Nadie ganó! None of the candidates got above 40% votes. This means that there will be a new election in April. Only two candidates move to the next round, PAC (red and yellow)  and PLN (green and white). This election is considered one of the most important elections in Costa Rican history. Many people in Costa Rica want to see change within their government.

When I got home my host parents explained to me that they was going to be another election because there were too many candidates and it split up the votes too much.