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Preliminary Report of the Electoral Observation Mission of the OAS in Costa Rica

The Election Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) wishes to highlight the normalcy and tranquility that characterized Sunday’s elections in Costa Rica, demonstrating the strength of the civic and democratic traditions of the country. The general election process was characterized by a high level of trust in the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The Mission commends the Costa Rican people for their participation and commitment to democracy.

The mission was headed by former Mexican presidential candidate Josefina Vázquez Mota, designated by the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, and consisted of 22 international election observers and specialists from ten member states of the Organization. The Mission met with electoral and governmental authorities, political leaders, media, civil society representatives and other stakeholders in the electoral process in order to document the preparations and advances in the electoral campaign. On Sunday, February 2, members of the Mission toured polling stations in four provinces of the country to observe the voting.

In addition to accompanying the process on polling day, the Mission carried out its observation with an emphasis on the implementation of three methods that allowed for the observation of the equality of media coverage of the campaigns, access to political campaign financing, and participation of men and women throughout the electoral process.

Observations of the Electoral Observation Mission in Costa Rica

The Mission conducted a rigorous analysis of the Costa Rican legislation in the three issues previously mentioned, and met with key institutional actors in order to collect relevant information for developing recommendations on these topics. The main findings of the mission on the basis of the observation of these three aspects are the following:

Public funding of electoral campaigns

The Mission noted that political parties are entitled to receive a state contribution toward campaign spending in elections. This contribution is distributed according to the electoral strength (votes received in the previous election) and is a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The state contribution is delivered after the election, but the parties may request an advance of up to 15% of the total if they present liquid guarantees for the same amount that they will receive.

In the current election, trusts were used as a means of securing the advances, as well as a way to access resources through the assignment of the right to remaining state contributions as well as loans. The trusts were based largely on polls to calculate the resources that were given to the parties. The situation made the polls a determining factor in access to campaign funding.

On the issue of direct public funding, the Mission noted that the requirement of liquid collateral, the insufficient percentage of advances to the parties and the determining role of polls in gaining access the rest of the state contribution led to conditions of inequality in access to financial resources for election campaigns.

· Using electoral polls to determine public financing


In the current funding scheme, the Mission noted that polls are the basis for determining financing provided by financial institutions by way of trusts. The Mission received several concerns about this scheme and considers it important to review the rules governing the use of polls. In particular, to review the mechanisms to make transparent the methodology of polling organizations with the figure of a regulator, that could come from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal under the following conditions:

1. To make explicit the general scientific criteria consistent with the standards and practices generally accepted in the scientific and professional community specializing in conducting opinion polls, respecting the methodological pluralism that is inherent in every practice.

2. Possibility of public verification of the data and results reported in the scientific studies.

3. Detailed Disclosure of the methodological characteristics of surveys and polls on electoral issues, an essential condition for these studies to contribute effectively to democratic development through the creation of a better-informed public.

· Funding and access guidelines for advertising campaigns

In the current legal framework there is no indirect public financing in the media. In general, the regulations ensuring equitable access by all parties to the media during the campaign are insufficient. In practice, under the current rules access by political parties to advertising to promote their proposals are proportionate to their ability to pay.

According to the observation of media access by the Mission, four parties that participated in the presidential elections accounted for 80% of paid advertising, while the remaining 20% was distributed among the remaining nine contestants. The information collected allows us to affirm that access to advertising guidelines in the media between the parties with presidential candidates is inequitable.

· Transparency in the electoral financing system

The regulatory framework establishes and ensures accountability, government control and access to information on the resources used in campaigns. The Mission noted that the exercise of the powers of control of the resources of the campaigns conducted by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal through the Department of Party Financing has been an important step forward in the compliance with regulations and the strengthening of government control. The financial statements of the parties, reports of private contributions and monthly reports of electoral spending, among other relevant documents and data are entirely public.

The Mission noted that the campaign finance system contributes to transparency, promoting favorable conditions for social oversight and informed voting by the public.

· Informative coverage of the parties in the media

According to the observation of access to media by the Electoral Observation Mission, five parties that participated in the presidential elections accounted for 88% of the coverage, while 12% was distributed among the remaining eight contenders. The same situation was observed in some of the presidential debates, where the same number of candidates participated. The events described may hinder the diffusion among citizens of the proposals and plans of government of the smaller parties.

Despite the concentration in coverage, the Mission noted that the tone of the information about the five candidates mentioned was, on average, neutral in 66% of cases, negative in 11% and positive in 22%. The data reflect a tendency toward objective treatment of the campaign among the most covered candidates from the media.

· Gender equity in the race

With regard to the conditions of equal participation of men and women in the elections, the Mission congratulates the Costa Rican government and its institutions on the progress represented by the implementation for the first time during this election of the principles of gender parity and alternation for multimember candidacies and for the Executive Committees of political parties.

Despite these important advances, it was noted that there are still challenges to equal access by women to public office. For this election none of the 13 political parties for the presidency put forward a female candidate. In addition, in candidacies for the Legislative Assembly, political parties placed predominantly male candidates at the head of the lists. According to information obtained by the Mission, 77% of the lists for the Legislative Assembly were headed by male candidates. In addition, female candidates heading the lists corresponded to regions where fewer seats are allocated, which significantly reduces their chances of being elected to the Legislative Assembly.

In addition to the low rate of women heading the lists, female candidates received less coverage by the media. According to data obtained by the Mission through observation of the media, female candidates to the Legislative Assembly received 22% of the coverage by the media in the sample, while 78% was dedicated to male candidates.

Reforms to the Electoral Code of 2009 included provisions on the use of a percentage of state funding for peer training. According to a report by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal obtained by the Mission, five of the 13 political parties for the presidency (Frente Amplio, Partido Unidad Social Cristiana, Partido de Acción Ciudadana, Movimiento Libertario and Partido Liberación Nacional) used only 7.25% the total funds that were available for this purpose. In this regard, the Mission recommends that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal develop mechanisms to ensure that funds earmarked for peer training are actually used.

Recommendations of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission

The Costa Rican electoral system has been adding elements that contribute to strengthening the transparency and competitiveness of their elections. In light of the comments submitted, and in order to continue contributing to their improvement, the Mission respectfully submits the following recommendations:

1) In relation to direct public financing, the Mission recommends analyzing the possibility of increasing the percentage that parties may request in advance and set rules that do not require liquid collateral for access, but at the same time preserve accountability and government control over those resources. Likewise, it recommends strengthening the rules governing polls in order to ensure minimum methodological criteria and to guarantee complete and detailed transparency on their technical characteristics.

2) In terms of financing and access to advertising by campaigns, the Mission recommends analyzing the possibility of incorporating into legislation authorized electioneering slots in the media to be subsidized with state funds for parties to do their advertising during the campaign, and to guarantee a minimum level of access so that all competing parties have an opportunity to present their proposals. The authorized electioneering slots should be freely available to the parties and their distribution mechanisms could take into account the proportion of votes cast (votes received in the previous election) and participation (enrollment of candidates in the race).

3) To ensure parity more effectively, the Mission recommends that in addition to parity and vertical alternation, alternating horizontal mechanisms be used, so that of the seven lists submitted by each party for the legislative elections, at least three must be headed by a woman.

4) To make more effective use of the resources available for training women in political parties, the Mission recommends that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal develop more comprehensive mechanisms with political parties so that they conduct training programs that support the development and leadership incentives for women within their ranks. The work done by the Institute for Training and Democracy Studies (IFED), could, in addition to direct training, provide technical assistance to the parties so that they introduce into their internal processes the principles of parity and to ensure they make effective use of the public resources at their disposal for this purpose.

5) With regard to the participation of women in campaigns, the Mission recommends that, if the authorized electioneering slots are adopted, a percentage be designated specifically for female candidates as a measure that would help ensure better equity.

6) In order to strengthen the party system, the Mission encourages these institutions to continue their activities in the periods between one election and another and to use public resources available by law for the training of its militants. Political parties play a vital role in representing the public, which is fulfilled through the articulation and aggregation of interests and preferences and citizens in legislative work in the formation of governments and recruitment new representative leadership. To effectively contribute to the proper functioning of the democratic system is a priority that political parties perform these activities permanently and continuously, not just at election time.

These recommendations could be promoted in the context of a public debate that lays the foundation for the creation of a national agreement to create political and institutional reforms that respond to the new political reality with the current reconfiguration of political options. The EOM congratulates Costa Rica on the initiatives developed in recent years to analyze critical issues in democratic governance, and recommends continuing these efforts and providing them with a clear mandate, in order to create the necessary reforms in the political and legal system of the country.

Finally, the Mission expresses its gratitude for the openness of all political actors to the Mission, and especially the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for its work and collaboration. It also thanks the Governments of Bolivia, Chile, the United States, France, Israel and Luxembourg for their financial contributions to the Mission.

The Mission reiterates its commitment to return the country for the conclusion of this electoral process on April 6, 2014.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-032/14