1902 Costa Rican general election explained

Country:

Costa Rica

Flag Image:

Flag of Costa Rica (1848-1906).svg

Previous Election:

1897 Costa Rican general election

Previous Year:

1897

Next Election:

1906 Costa Rican general election

Next Year:

1906

Election Date:

16 February 1902

Module:

Embed:	yes
Election Name:	Presidential election
Type:	presidential
Image1:	Ascención Esquivel Ibarra (adjusted).JPG
Nominee1:	Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra
Party1:	National Union Party (Costa Rica)
Electoral Vote1:	610
Percentage1:	78.81%
Nominee2:	Máximo Fernández Alvarado
Party2:	Republican Party (Costa Rica)
Electoral Vote2:	164
Percentage2:	21.19%
President
Before Election:	Rafael Yglesias Castro
Before Party:	Civil Party (Costa Rica)
After Election:	Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra
After Party:	National Union Party (Costa Rica)

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 16 February 1902.^[1] They occurred under growing political tensions.^[2] The authoritarian government of Rafael Yglesias was in direct confrontation with the opposition and had re-elected himself as single-candidate in the previous election by a questionable constitutional reform. The liberal Republican Party represented the most staunch opposition and the country was on the edge of civil war. However, Yglesias managed to negotiate with the moderate branch of the Republicans for a peaceful power exchange.

This new election was called with two candidates: Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra from the newly formed National Union Party and Máximo Fernández Alvarado under the banner of the "Republican Club". Both liberals. Esquivel won by a large margin.

Results

In the first round, Yglesias did not run, but some electors voted for him rather than for Esquivel.

First round by province

Province
Province	width=60px		width=60px	width=60px	Yglesias¹
	204	30	-
	132	63	-
	90	12	15
	60	29	-
	3	-	72
	33	-	-
	27	-	-
Total	549	134	87
align=left colspan=11	Source: Salazar^[3]

Second round by province

Province
Province	width=60px		width=60px
	199	42
	122	70
	96	12
	56	40
	69	-
	39	-
	29	-
Total	610	164
align=left colspan=11	Source: TSE

Notes and References

Web site: Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones de Costa Rica . Historia de las elecciones presidenciales 1824–2014 . 2017 .
Molina . Iván . Elecciones y democracia en Costa Rica, 1885-1913 . European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies . 2001 . 70 . 41–57 . 2018-12-21 . 2019-05-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190502173816/http://www.cedla.uva.nl/50_publications/pdf/revista/70RevistaEuropea/70_IvanMolina.pdf . dead .
Salazar, O. (2003) El apogeo de la República Liberal en Costa Rica, 1870-1914, p 207