Living in Costa Rica retirement relocation tours.

Today is Election Day in Costa Rica

For get the Super Bowl! Today’s election is the main event in Costa Rica.

Since Costa Rica is such a small country, voters participate more directly in the democratic process. Each vote carries a lot of weight so politicians are more accessible and have more contact with the people. For the 2002 presidential election the turnout was around 90 percent— numbers which dwarf the U.S.’ meager 50-percent turnout.

Six years ago I became a Costa Rican citizen after having lived here for 19 years. One of the privileges of becoming a naturalized citizen is the right to vote. I voted for the first time in the last election in 2002. Today I went to the polls or urnas and voted again. My polling place was a local elementary school in Lagunilla de Heredia.

The polls open at 6am. About that time you can here horns blaring and see hundreds of cars adorned with the flags of their respective political parties. Costa Ricans approach the presidential elections with such enthusiasm that they celebrate Election Day as if it were a big party or national holiday. People wearing party colors, dancing and bands playing Latin music all contribute to the festive atmosphere.

When I arrived at my polling place I noticed all of the major parties had set up canopies decorated with their party colors in front of the school where people vote. Under each canopy there are several tables where a score of volunteers will tell you which room in the schoolhouse you will have to go to cast your vote. They have a list where your name and cédula (national identification card for citizens and residents) appear. There are children who will lead you to the room where you are to vote This is determined by the first letter of your last name or father’s last name in Costa Rica.

Once you arrive at the room where you vote you have to hand the workers you cédula. They look for you name and a photo copy of your cédula in a thick book. When they find the information you have to sign the page in the book where your cédula and photo appear. Next you are given the ballots and go to a waist-high table with a partition on three sides of it. You unfold the ballot put an ‘X” below your choice and fold it back the way it was. Then you stick your ballot in a big cardboard box with a slot in the top and the volunteers return your cédula to you. That’s it!