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A new law passed by legislators at the National Assembly of Costa Rica will reduce the nation’s contribution to the electoral process by about 20 billion colones, approximately $40,000,000 at today’s currency exchange rate. This legislative action was proposed by the Citizens’ Action Party (Spanish initials: PAC) and received significant support from Costa Rica’s powerhouse political parties.
By October 2nd, the official newspaper La Gaceta expects to print the law, thereby making it effective. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Costa Rica is ready to implement the law immediately. The new law caps spending on political elections and campaign contributions to no more than 0.11 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
In Costa Rica, unlike in other political systems, the private sector is not allowed to provide campaign contributions. The democratically elected legislative representatives and the Executive Branch set the amount of GDP that will be used for campaign finance as well as for the administration of the elections. Monetary contributions by the private sector are not allowed in Costa Rica, although a legislative proposal to allow such donations was introduced by the ruling National Liberation political party (Spanish initials: PLN).
Recent surveys among voters in Costa Rica indicate that the citizenry is not ready to accept the concept of political campaign contributions being made by the private sector. The voters feel that such a system would bring a tinge of unfairness to some of the leftist political parties that are usually not very friendly to the private sector. They also feel that political donations by the private sector may also invite corruption in the electoral system.
In the coming elections to succeed President Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica will spend $50 million dollars in election costs and campaign finance. Several new political parties will participate, and voter turnout is expected to improve. Although voting in Costa Rica is made compulsory by law, there is no enforcement thereof and no penalties for those who abstain. Voter turnout in Costa Rica used to be among the highest in the Americas, but it has sharply declined in the wake of two high-profile cases of corruption involving two former presidents who actually received prison sentences.
