With a little more a week to go, it appears that Laura Chinchilla of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) has a lock on the vote with a 45.1% support, according to the latest poll by Demoscopia.
Otto Guevara of the Movimiento Libertario (ML) continues to hold second place firmly with 30% of the decided vote, while Ottón Solís of the Partido Acción Cuidadana (PAC) continues in third place with 9.5%, followed by the Luis Fishman of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) with a 3.8% approval.
The Demoscopia poll firmly dispells the requirement of a second round vote.
However, during several interviews and round table discussions before the television cameras, all the candidates assure that they will win the vote of the majority of Costa Ricans.
Ottón Solís was quick to remind that four years ago the poll results weren't much different when he faced off against Oscar Arias, then on voting day almost winning the election. Solís lost to Arias in 2006 with less than a 1.000 votes.
The Demoscopia poll was taken between January 20 and 26, taking into account the results of 1.209 people.
The poll results show that 71% of the voters have decided for whom they will cast their vote.
Costa Ricans will go to the polls on Sunday, February 7th.
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/january/29/costarica-10012901.htmLaura Chinchilla would be the country`s first female president.
"Election laws in Costa Rica dictate, among other things, that a candidate requires 40% of the votes to avoid a second round of voting for election of the President. Further, in case of a tie with candidates having the same number of votes, the elder of the two wins the seat."