Conservative Laura Fernandez Delgado Leads Costa Rica’s Presidential Election In Preliminary Results

MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Conservative Laura Fernandez Delgado of the ruling Sovereign People’s Party (PPSO) is leading in Costa Rica’s presidential election, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) announced Sunday, as reported by Anadolu Ajansi.

Fernandez Delgado -- considered the political heir of outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves Robles -- holds an overwhelming advantage over the rest of the candidates and is on track to win the presidency in the first round, according to preliminary results, with votes at more than one-third of polling stations processed.

The TSE said that votes at 2,228 polling stations out of a total of 7,154 have been counted, representing 31.14 per cent of the vote, and it would continue updating results.

Fernandez Delgado leads the early count with 326,733 votes, or 53 per cent, comfortably above the 40 per cent threshold required to secure a first-round victory.

In second place is Alvaro Ramos of the National Liberation Party (PLN), who has received 185,257 votes, or approximately 30.06 per cent.

The elections were marked by an unusually large field of candidates, with 20 competing for power.

However, 18 of the candidates failed to surpass 3.0 per cent of the vote as of the preliminary count.

The elections were also characterised by high voter participation, with the TSE reporting turnout at 66.96 per cent and abstentions at 33.04 per cent.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU