1917 Costa Rican general election

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1917 Costa Rican general election
Flag of Costa Rica (state).svg
1 April 1917
Presidential election
  1913
1919  
  Federico Tinoco Granados.jpg
Nominee Federico Tinoco Granados
Party Peliquista
Popular vote61,214
Percentage100%

President before election

Federico Tinoco Granados
Peliquista

Elected President

Federico Tinoco Granados
Peliquista

Constituent Assembly election
 1870
1948  

All 42 seats in the National Constituent Assembly
22 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
Peliquista Federico Tinoco Granados 40New
Tinoquista Otilio Ulate Blanco
Otto Cortés Fernández
2New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 1 April 1917. [1] General Federico Tinoco Granados had illegally seized power in a military coup that January and stood as the sole candidate in the presidential election. The elections were widely regarded as fraudulent, with Tinoco as the only official candidate. Although former president Rafael Yglesias Castro received 259 votes [2] , they were recorded as invalid ballots. [3]

Contents

Tinoco’s regime enjoyed the support of the intellectual elite, as well as the coffee and banking oligarchy, sectors that had been negatively impacted by the reforms of President Alfredo González Flores. He also counted on the backing of key political figures, including (at least initially) Republican Party leader Máximo Fernández Alvarado and journalist Otilio Ulate Blanco. [4] The Army, commanded by Tinoco’s brother José Joaquín Tinoco Granados, initially offered him unconditional loyalty. [4] The regime garnered significant popular support early on, with a pro-Tinoquista demonstration on 18 March 1917 drawing an estimated 25,000 participants across San José. [4]

Following the coup, Tinoco called for presidential and legislative elections to form a National Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution, mirroring the approach of previous regimes born from coups in 1859, 1869 and 1871. The elections were conducted under the existing Electoral Law, maintaining the same number of deputies (42) and provincial distribution as the previous Constitutional Congress. The ruling party won all but two seats in the Assembly, allowing conservative sympathizers such as Ulate and Otto Cortés Fernández (son of future president León Cortés) to participate. [4]

Results

President

CandidatePartyVotes%
Federico Tinoco Granados Peliquista Party 61,214100.00
Total61,214100.00
Valid votes61,21498.30
Invalid/blank votes1,0581.70
Total votes62,272100.00
Registered voters/turnout91,07968.37
Source: Nohlen, TSE

National Constituent Assembly

Asamblea Constituyente de Costa Rica de 1917.svg
PartySeats+/–
Peliquista Party 40New
Tinoquista Party2New
Total42
Source: Nohlen, TSE

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
  2. "Historia de las elecciones presidenciales 1824–2014" (PDF). Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones de Costa Rica. 2017.
  3. Nohlen, p176
  4. 1 2 3 4 Oconitrillo García, Eduardo (2004). Cien años de política costarricense: 1902-2002, de Ascensión Esquivel a Abel Pacheco. EUNED. ISBN   9789968313605.