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Costa Rica will hold presidential and parliamentary elections

01 February 2026 02:43 (UTC +04:00)

General elections will be held in Costa Rica. Citizens will elect a new president, two vice presidents, and the full 57-member Legislative Assembly (unicameral parliament), APA reports.

According to the constitution, incumbent President Rodrigo Chávez Robles is ineligible to run for a second consecutive term. Two rounds of voting may be required to determine the winner if no candidate receives more than 40% of the vote in the first round.

A total of 20 candidates are vying for Costa Rica's highest office. The front-runners, according to most forecasts, are the incumbent president's successor, Laura Fernández, representing the right-wing Sovereign People's Party; former head of the Social Security Fund, Álvaro Ramos, of the National Liberation Party; and former first lady Claudia Dobles, running for the center-left Civic Agenda Coalition.

According to a recent public opinion poll conducted by the Center for Political Research at the University of Costa Rica (CIEP-UCR), Laura Fernández is the frontrunner in the presidential race, with support levels ranging from 40.8% to 46.8%. Alvaro Ramos is second with support levels ranging from 7.2% to 11.2%, and Claudia Dobles is third with an estimated support of 6.6% to 10.6%. The share of undecided voters a few days before the vote ranges from 23.2% to 28.8%.