Final presidential election results: PAC beat PLN by less than 1 percent

Costa Rica’s Supreme Elections Tribunal released the official results of the Feb. 2 election. Citizen Action Party’s Luis Guillermo Solís eked out a victory of less than 20,000 votes over runner-up Johnny Araya, of the National Liberation Party. Solís finished with 629,866 votes, while Araya managed 610,634 votes. The abstention rate reached 31.8 percent, which is still a better turnout than the United States.

But since neither party captured 40 percent of the vote, Costa Rica heads to a runoff on April 6. More analysis on the final results coming up soon.

TSE Official Numbers: Top 5 Candidates

• Luis Guillermo Solís, Citizen Action Party – 30.64 percent
• Johnny Araya, National Liberation Party – 29.71 percent
• José María Villata, Broad Front Party – 17.24 percent
• Otto Guevara, Libertarian Movement Party – 11.33 percent
• Rodolfo Piza, Social Christian Unity Party – 6.01 percent