Costa Rica’s 2014 presidential campaign officially kicks off Wednesday

Officials from the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) on Wednesday will officially launch the 2014 presidential campaign.   

Costa Rica’s Electoral Code states that the campaign to elect the country’s president, two vice presidents and lawmakers must start four months before Election Day. Ticos will head to the polls on Feb. 2, 2014. 

Wednesday also marks the deadline for Ticos to request a personal identification, or cédula, and to report address changes. 

TSE data show that more than 3 million people are eligible to vote in Costa Rica next year.

On Monday, long lines stretched down the sidewalk in front of the TSE’s Civil Registry in downtown San José, with dozens of Ticos hoping to make the last-minute changes to allow them to vote.

The 2014 elections also will be the first opportunity for 10,264 Costa Ricans who live abroad and are registered to vote to participate from their countries of residence. Tico expats interested in voting from abroad must register at the nearest consulate or embassy before Wednesday.

New York City has the most Ticos – 2,382 – registered to vote from abroad.

Currently, 15 political parties are authorized by the TSE to participate in the national elections.

TSE officials also expect some 47,000 young Ticos to request their first cédula by Wednesday, and Civil Registry records indicate that some 251,000 Ticos wlll have the opportunity to vote for the first time next year.