Preliminary results by Costa Rica's Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) on Sunday night showed turnout in municipal elections has increased from 28 percent in 2010 to 35 percent this time around.
Municipal elections in Costa Rica have struggled with low turnout in the past but those who did vote said they did so out of a sense of patriotic obligation.
Costa Ricans began voting Sunday morning to choose local mayors, council members and other municipal officials in 81 cantons in the country's seven provinces.
The former mayor of San José, Johnny Araya Monge, who headed the municipality for 22 years, believes progress has stalled since he left office in 2013 to pursue a losing bid for the presidency the following year.
Of a total of 81 cantons in Costa Rica, only six will enforce a ban on alcohol sales during upcoming municipal elections on Sunday, according to the National Union of Local Governments. That's just over 7 percent.
A five-year-old sexual harassment allegation is still hovering over Santa Ana Mayor Gerardo Oviedo, who will run for re-election in February's municipal voting.
