| Country: | Costa Rica | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Flag Image: | Flag of Costa Rica (1848-1906).svg | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Election: | 1882 Costa Rican general election | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Year: | 1882 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Next Election: | 1889 Costa Rican general election | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Next Year: | 1889 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Election Date: | 4 April 1886 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Module: |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
General elections were held in Costa Rica on 4 April 1886.[1] After the death of Próspero Fernández Oreamuno in March 1885, Bernardo Soto Alfaro took over the presidency temporarily for the remainder of the term. Soto was a thirty-year-old young man who had to command the country in the war against Guatemala that sought to re-establish the Federal Republic of Central America. Soto was a freemason and liberal, belonging to "The Olympus", a group of liberal intellectuals who would have a great influence on Costa Rican politics and many would hold the Presidency of the Republic.[2]
Soto managed to prevent through various tricks the candidacy of Víctor Guardia Gutiérrez, brother of the late dictator Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez, becoming sole and unanimous candidate in a two-degree type of election in which all male citizens allowed by law choose second-degree electors who selected the President.
In Alajuela there were 140 electors, but 145 voted.[1]
| Province | width=60px | |
|---|---|---|
| 168 | ||
| 140 | ||
| 90 | ||
| 75 | ||
| 42 | ||
| 21 | ||
| 6 | ||
| Total | 542 | |
| align=left colspan=11 | Source: Salazar[3] |