1894 Costa Rican general election

none Costa Rica Flag of Costa Rica (1848-1906).svg 1889 Costa Rican general election 1889 1897 Costa Rican general election 1897 4–6 February 1894 (popular vote)1 April 1894 (electoral college) yes Presidential election presidential 130x130px 564 members of the Electoral CollegeOut of the 663 electors chosen in the first round, only 564 took part in the second round. 283 3-4 Rafael Iglesias.png 150 95 130 10 47 Rafael Yglesias Castro Civil Party (Costa Rica) 298 52.84% Dr. Juan José Flores.jpg 140 95 130 10 21 Juan José Flores Umaña People's Party (Costa Rica) PP es Partido del Pueblo (Costa Rica) Catholic Union 3A5A94 189 33.51% Félix Arcadio Montero Monge.jpg 120 95 130 4 20 Félix Arcadio Montero Monge Independent Democratic Party (Costa Rica) PID es Partido Independiente Demócrata FFFF00 62 10.99% 1894 Costa Rican presidential election by province.svg 280px Estimated results by province President José Joaquín Rodríguez Independent Rafael Yglesias Castro Civil Party (Costa Rica) yes Legislative election 1892 1896 All 32 seats in the Constitutional Congress 17 yes Civil Party (Costa Rica) Rafael Yglesias Castro 20 New UC–People's Party (Costa Rica) PP es Partido del Pueblo (Costa Rica) #3A5A94 José Gregorio Trejos Gutiérrez es 9 New Agricultural Fadrique Gutiérrez es 2 New Independent Democratic Party (Costa Rica) PID es Partido Independiente Demócrata #FFFF00 Félix Arcadio Montero Monge 1 New General elections were held in Costa Rica in 1894 to elect the president and all members of the Constitutional Congress.Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones de Costa Rica Historia de las elecciones presidenciales 1824–2014 2017 https://www.tse.go.cr/pdf/ifed/historia_electoral.pdf Voters elected members of the electoral college on 4, 5 and 6 February,Obregón Clotilde El proceso electoral y el poder ejecutivo en Costa Rica: 1808-1998 2000 TSE 9789977676180 https://books.google.com/books?id=8wqPTI2704EC&q=elecciones+primer+grado+costa+rica+1894&pg=PA207 29 December 2018 who in turn elected the president on 1 April. The elections were marked by controversy, amid allegations of irregularities and abuses of power by the outgoing administration of President José Joaquín Rodríguez Zeledón. The government supported the candidacy of Rafael Yglesias Castro, Rodríguez’s son-in-law, and was accused by contemporaries and later observers of employing coercive measures to secure his victory, including the arrest of his principal opponent, José Gregorio Trejos Gutiérrez es.Di Luca Clara El Partido Unión Católica; primer partido ideológico de Costa Rica 1977 Background In the previous general election, José Joaquín Rodríguez Zeledón had secured the presidency with the support of the Catholic Church and previously marginalized conservative sectors, defeating the liberal and Freemason candidate Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra.González Daniel 2014 Los partidos políticos en Costa Rica: un acercamiento histórico http://www.red-redial.net/pt/referencia-bibliografica-74281.html dead Boletín de la Asociación Para el Fomento de los Estudios Históricos en Centroamérica 60 https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230512/http://www.red-redial.net/pt/referencia-bibliografica-74281.html 2018-12-20 2018-12-21 The initial attempts by the outgoing liberal government of Bernardo Soto Alfaro to reject the results and install Esquivel nonetheless nearly provoked a Catholic uprising.Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones Celebración del 7 de noviembre: Día de la Democracia Costarricense http://www.tse.go.cr/dianacionaldelademocracia.htm 20 December 2018 Rodríguez was ultimately recognized as the democratically elected president and was sworn into office on 8 May 1890 as per the 1871 Constitution. During his term, however, his government departed from several of the principles that had facilitated his rise to power. Although initially allied with the Catholic Church, Rodríguez later severed political ties with it. Following the 1892 midterm elections, he dissolved the Constitutional Congress in August of that year, a move widely regarded as unconstitutional, and governed by decree for the remainder of his term, during which political opponents were arrested. In advance of the election, Rodríguez decreed the restoration of constitutional rights and freedoms that had been suspended in 1892, along with a general amnesty for most individuals imprisoned for opposing his government. On 14 November, he formally called for general elections to be held in February and April 1894.Calvo Gamboa Carlos Rafael Iglesias Castro Ministerio de Cultura, Juventud y Deportes 1980 76-77 Spanish After José Joaquín Rodríguez’s election, his political organization, the Constitutional Democratic Party, had fractured in 1890 into two new parties. One was the Catholic Union, an ultraconservative, anti-Masonic party led by the German-born bishop of Costa Rica, Bernhard August Thiel, which on 22 September nominated veteran jurist José Gregorio Trejos as its presidential candidate. The other was the Civil Party, a loosely liberal organization established in November 1893 and led by Rodríguez’s son-in-law, Rafael Yglesias Castro, who was selected as its candidate. While not explicitly anti-clerical, the Civil Party opposed the direct involvement of the Catholic Church in active political life. Electoral system The election was conducted under an electoral law enacted by decree by President José Joaquín Rodríguez on 11 November 1893, which replaced the legislation in force since 1889.Calvo Gamboa Carlos Rafael Iglesias Castro 1980 89 Spanish Under this framework, control of the electoral process was concentrated in the Executive Branch, particularly in the president and the Secretary of the Interior and Police. Provincial electoral boards were appointed by the executive and presided over by the respective provincial governors. These boards oversaw the vote count and appointed cantonal boards, which were chaired by the political chiefs and, in turn, designated district boards responsible for compiling voter registers.Salazar Mora Orlando Salazar Mora Jorge Mario Los partidos políticos en Costa Rica: 1889–2010 Editorial UNED 2010 1st San José 12–13 Spanish The electoral process followed a two-stage system of indirect voting. In the first stage, eligible male citizens voted publicly to select second-degree electors. In the second stage, these electors chose the president by secret ballot. Eligibility to serve as an elector generally required property ownership and literacy, which meant that electors were drawn primarily from wealthier sectors and the middle class.Calvo Gamboa Carlos Rafael Iglesias Castro 1980 85 Spanish The same body of electors also selected the deputies to the Constitutional Congress for four-year terms. Electoral assemblies were held in the capital city of each province and were presided over by the provincial governor, who was appointed by the president. For the 1894 election, 720 electors were to be chosen nationwide. However, only 663 were elected, and 99 of those did not ultimately participate in the second round of voting.Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones de Costa Rica Historia de las elecciones presidenciales 1824–2014 2017 https://www.tse.go.cr/pdf/ifed/historia_electoral.pdf Campaign From the outset of the campaign, the Catholic Union emerged as the principal opposition force and nominated veteran jurist José Gregorio Trejos Gutiérrez es. Within the liberal camp, divisions led to multiple candidacies, with some factions nominating former foreign minister Manuel de Jesús Jiménez Oreamuno and others supporting former interim president Carlos Durán Cartín. Two additional parties also contested the election but played a more limited role. The Independent Democratic Party, led by former deputy Félix Arcadio Montero Monge, and the Agricultural Party, which nominated Colonel Fadrique Gutiérrez es, a sculptor from Heredia, attracted relatively modest support. The People’s Party, representing sectors associated with the coffee oligarchy and the Olympus Generation, nominated physician Juan José Flores Umaña. In light of the Catholic Union’s electoral strength, several prominent political figures called for the unification of its opponents, and Durán ultimately allied with Jiménez. By this stage of the campaign, the Civil Party had already been formed, nominating Rafael Yglesias Castro. Its emergence further fragmented the liberal movement, indirectly benefiting the Catholic Union and prompting criticism of the Civil Party from segments of the liberal press and leadership. During the campaign, the Rodríguez administration was accused of exerting pressure on the electoral process in favor of Yglesias, including influencing the electoral college by discouraging electors aligned with the Catholic Union from participating in the second round of voting. Following the arrest of José Gregorio Trejos by the government, both clerical and liberal factions endorsed Juan José Flores for the second round in an unexpected alliance.Salazar Mora Orlando Salazar Mora Jorge Mario Los partidos políticos en Costa Rica: 1889–2010 30-31 Spanish In spite of the efforts, the Civil Party secured a majority of the electoral votes cast. Following Yglesias’s victory, Article 36 of the Constitution was amended in July 1895 to prohibit political propaganda carried out, in any form, by clergy or laypersons invoking religious motives or exploiting religious beliefs. This amendment had the effect of banning religious-based political activity and rendered the Catholic Union illegal, thereby removing the principal opposition party. Results Contemporary newspaper reports provided differing figures for the allocation of electors in the first round. According to La Prensa Libre, 318 electors were pledged to José Gregorio Trejos and 180 to Rafael Yglesias, while El Heraldo reported 321 for Trejos and 190 for Yglesias.Salazar, O. (2003) El apogeo de la República Liberal en Costa Rica, 1870-1914, p 186 9977-67-131-1 Although the precise distribution of the popular vote has not been conclusively established by later studies, available evidence indicates that the Catholic Union received more than half of the votes cast nationwide in the first round, as well as the largest number of electors.Sáenz Carbonell Jorge Francisco El canciller Rodríguez: semblanza de don José Joaquín Rodríguez Zeledón Instituto Manuel María de Peralta 2011 1st San José 91 SpanishCalvo Gamboa Carlos Rafael Iglesias Castro 1980 85 Spanish An 1897 retrospective editorial published in the official gazette reported that a total of 28,739 votes were cast in the election. Based on the 1892 census, a later study estimated the number of eligible registered male voters at 57,614, yielding an approximate voter turnout of 49.88%.Molina Iván 2001 Elecciones y democracia en Costa Rica, 1885-1913 http://www.cedla.uva.nl/50_publications/pdf/revista/70RevistaEuropea/70_IvanMolina.pdf dead European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 70 45 https://web.archive.org/web/20190502173816/http://www.cedla.uva.nl/50_publications/pdf/revista/70RevistaEuropea/70_IvanMolina.pdf 2019-05-02 2025-12-20 Rafael Yglesias Castro Civil Party 298 José Gregorio Trejos Gutiérrez es Catholic Union 189 #3A5A94 Félix Arcadio Montero Monge Independent Democratic Party (Costa Rica) Independent Democratic Party es Partido Independiente Demócrata 62 #FFFF00 Fadrique Gutiérrez es Agricultural Party 15 720 TSE Second round results by province Province Yglesias Flores Montero Gutiérrez San José Province 52 86 29 - Alajuela 117 5 9 - Cartago Province 11 54 14 - Heredia 45 19 6 - Guanacaste 57 9 - - Puntarenas 3 15 - 15 Limón 13 1 4 - Total 298 189 62 15Source: TSE Constitutional Congress File:Costa Rican Constitutional Congress 1894.svg Civil Party 20 New Catholic Union Party–People's Party (Costa Rica) People's Party es Partido del Pueblo (Costa Rica) 9 New #3A5A94 Agricultural Party 2 New Independent Democratic Party 1 New #FFFF00 CalvoCalvo Gamboa Carlos Rafael Iglesias Castro Ministerio de Cultura, Juventud y Deportes 1980 87 Spanish Notes 30em References Category:Parliamentary elections in Costa Rica Costa General Category:Presidential elections in Costa Rica Category:February 1894 in North America Category:April 1894 in North America