TSE - Race Tightens to 749 Votes, Count to Finish Wednesday
After 13 days of counting until their fingers are numb, TSE officials will finally finish the official vote count for the presidential race on Wednesday. Well before the 30 day time limit mandated by law.
On Monday, TSE staff finished the Guanacaste count and started the Puntarenas count which will conclude today. The Limon province will be last and is projected to begin late in the afternoon today. 717 polling stations are left for Puntarenas and Limon.
According to magistrate Ă“scar Fonseca, president of the TSE, “everything has gone normally, we are about to close this chapter. As nothing unforeseen occurs”. The judge clarified that the winner may not be apparent, even after the hand count is finished.
Party representatives have three days to challenge results from a polling station once it has been officially scrutinized. PAC has already presented 517 appeals, of which the first 200 have been resolved (rejected). Most appeals are related to the electoral registry or missing certificates from particular stations.
Fonseca also informed the public of the results from table 5925 of Los Angeles de PococĂ. At this table no votes were registered for PUSC, PUN, or UPC. Magistrates opened the envelopes where only ballots for Legislators and city council positions were supposed to be placed. They found the Presidential ballots for these parties. The case will be investigated officially and the votes from table will be re-examined.
Meanwhile, the maxim that every vote counts is truer than ever as Arias won yesterday’s count by a landslide of 17,108 votes. The new totals are PAC - 604,097 and PLN - 603,348 votes. A difference of only 749 votes. 88.36 % of the polling stations have been scrutinized, a total of 5446.