At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Costa Rica

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Oscar ARIAS Sanchez*
• Head of Government: President Oscar ARIAS Sanchez
• Assembly: Costa Rica has a unicameral Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) with 57 seats.

* The electoral system is two-round with a 40 percent threshold.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by qualified majority to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) 57 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** There are seven constituencies corresponding to Costa Rica's provinces, and seats are apportioned to each in proportion to population. Seats are allocated at the constituency level. Once all lists' quotas have been filled, there are additional considerations for sub-quotas of votes (50 percent of a full quota), and then for remainders less than sub-quotas.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Otton SOLIS Fallas
  • Party: Citizen Action Party (PAC) / Partido Accion Ciudadana
• Otto GUEVARA Guth
  • Party: Libertarian Movement Party (PML) / Partido Movimiento Libertario
• Laura CHINCHILLA Miranda
  • Party: National Liberation Party (PLN) / Partido Liberación Nacional
• Luis FISHMAN
  • Party: Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) / Partido de Unidad Socialcristiana

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 4,545,273 (July 2009 est)
• Registered Voters: 2,822,491 (December 2009)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,268,442 (2010)

·         Is Costa Rica a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Costa Rica ratified CEDAW: Yes (4 April 1986)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 22 (following 2010 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 69 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Costa Rica a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Costa Rica ratified CRPD: Yes (1 October 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 681,790 (est.)