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Partial researchResearch snapshot 2026-09-13. Evidence gaps remain; see Coverage for requirements.

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Office briefing

UPALA — Municipal council

Tracked current office. Identifiers stay separate from display names.

Costa Rica · UPALA / ALAJUELA · municipal · Municipal councilCR-C-ALAJUELA-UPALA

Read the complete original research briefing

TSE vote books joined to official elected-member declarations where geographic and total checks reconcile. Substitutes retained separately. Subsequent replacements and current officeholder status require review.

1. What office, where, and when is the next election?

Geography
UPALA / ALAJUELA
Next election
2028-02-06
Linked upcoming event
next-dfeb6dbf66cd081c73090f29
Registry qualification
Unknown

2. How certain is that date?

2028-02-06 is expected (not formally called). Day precision. A date without a formal call is not confirmed.

3. Who won earlier selected elections?

2024-02-04

Ordinary · Legal certification not established · list votes

  • UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANA44.8%
  • LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL36.2%
  • PUEBLO SOBERANO6.0%
  • NUEVA REPÚBLICA4.9%
  • AQUÍ COSTA RICA MANDA3.1%
  • PROGRESO SOCIAL DEMOCRÁTICO2.2%
  • UNIDOS PODEMOS1.9%
  • AGENDA DEMOCRÁTICA NACIONAL0.8%
Results for event-8b9aedb0f5977be980d0eff8
Label / candidateParty codeVotesShareSeatsStatus
UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20245,11644.8%4Recorded
LIBERACIÓN NACIONALcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20244,13736.2%3Recorded
PUEBLO SOBERANOcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20246916%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
NUEVA REPÚBLICAcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20245584.9%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
AQUÍ COSTA RICA MANDAcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20243573.1%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
PROGRESO SOCIAL DEMOCRÁTICOcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20242532.2%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
UNIDOS PODEMOScosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20242171.9%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
AGENDA DEMOCRÁTICA NACIONALcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/2024970.8%0 (recorded zero)Recorded

2020-02-02

Ordinary · Legal certification not established · list votes

  • UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANA43.5%
  • LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL35.0%
  • NUEVA REPUBLICA10.3%
  • REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANO8.7%
  • RESTAURACIÓN NACIONAL2.4%
Results for event-0816fc3320756ec765484627
Label / candidateParty codeVotesShareSeatsStatus
UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20205,30643.5%3Recorded
LIBERACIÓN NACIONALcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20204,27035%2Recorded
NUEVA REPUBLICAcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20201,25710.3%1Recorded
REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20201,0658.7%1Recorded
RESTAURACIÓN NACIONALcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20202902.4%0 (recorded zero)Recorded

2016-02-07

Ordinary · Legal certification not established · list votes

  • LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL48.0%
  • REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANO25.5%
  • ACCIÓN CIUDADANA22.7%
  • FRENTE AMPLIO2.7%
  • MOVIMIENTO LIBERTARIO1.1%
Results for event-11a06ba5e00b0884d8954ed5
Label / candidateParty codeVotesShareSeatsStatus
LIBERACIÓN NACIONALcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/20165,17848%3Recorded
REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/20162,75325.5%2Recorded
ACCIÓN CIUDADANAcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/20162,44622.7%2Recorded
FRENTE AMPLIOcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/20162902.7%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
MOVIMIENTO LIBERTARIOcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/20161171.1%0 (recorded zero)Recorded

4. Competition and volatility

competition index

Provisional imported-series CI

50.30–100 historical closeness

Actual-event and/or comparability review incomplete

Comparison status: Provisional imported-series comparison; actual-event review open

Method ci.weighted-gap.v1. Inputs: latest_gap=8.568177840014009, oldest_gap=22.4870178041543, previous_gap=8.50016409583197

pedersen volatility

Provisional volatility

16.55percentage points

Grouped Pedersen lower bound (percentage points). Twelve explicitly named standalone national parties; accent variants normalized. Local parties and coalitions remain Other. No alliance votes are attributed to individual member parties. An interval is withheld if either election has no list mapped to an explicit named group. This is aggregate share change, not individual voter switching. Event review: Actual-event and/or comparability review incomplete

Comparison status: Latest interval

Method pedersen.grouped.v1. Inputs: groups=["PLN","PUSC","PAC","Frente Amplio","PRN","Nueva Republica","PML","PIN","PASE","PRSC","PLP","PPSD","Other"], interval=Latest interval, vectors=[[36.206896551724135,44.775074391738144,0,0,0,4.88359880973219,0,0,0,0,0,2.2142482058463155,11.920182040959215],[35.03446012471283,43.5346242205448,0,0,2.379389563505087,10.313423039054808,0,0,0,8.738103052182474,0,0,0],[48.01557863501483,0,22.681750741839764,2.6891691394658754,0,0,1.084940652818991,0,0,25.528560830860535,0,0,0]]

pedersen volatility

Provisional volatility

56.23percentage points

Grouped Pedersen lower bound (percentage points). Twelve explicitly named standalone national parties; accent variants normalized. Local parties and coalitions remain Other. No alliance votes are attributed to individual member parties. An interval is withheld if either election has no list mapped to an explicit named group. This is aggregate share change, not individual voter switching. Event review: Actual-event and/or comparability review incomplete

Comparison status: Previous interval

Method pedersen.grouped.v1. Inputs: groups=["PLN","PUSC","PAC","Frente Amplio","PRN","Nueva Republica","PML","PIN","PASE","PRSC","PLP","PPSD","Other"], interval=Previous interval, vectors=[[36.206896551724135,44.775074391738144,0,0,0,4.88359880973219,0,0,0,0,0,2.2142482058463155,11.920182040959215],[35.03446012471283,43.5346242205448,0,0,2.379389563505087,10.313423039054808,0,0,0,8.738103052182474,0,0,0],[48.01557863501483,0,22.681750741839764,2.6891691394658754,0,0,1.084940652818991,0,0,25.528560830860535,0,0,0]]

pedersen volatility

Provisional volatility

36.39percentage points

Grouped Pedersen lower bound (percentage points). Twelve explicitly named standalone national parties; accent variants normalized. Local parties and coalitions remain Other. No alliance votes are attributed to individual member parties. An interval is withheld if either election has no list mapped to an explicit named group. This is aggregate share change, not individual voter switching. Event review: Actual-event and/or comparability review incomplete

Comparison status: Both intervals mean

Method pedersen.grouped.v1. Inputs: groups=["PLN","PUSC","PAC","Frente Amplio","PRN","Nueva Republica","PML","PIN","PASE","PRSC","PLP","PPSD","Other"], interval=Both intervals mean, vectors=[[36.206896551724135,44.775074391738144,0,0,0,4.88359880973219,0,0,0,0,0,2.2142482058463155,11.920182040959215],[35.03446012471283,43.5346242205448,0,0,2.379389563505087,10.313423039054808,0,0,0,8.738103052182474,0,0,0],[48.01557863501483,0,22.681750741839764,2.6891691394658754,0,0,1.084940652818991,0,0,25.528560830860535,0,0,0]]

Source-reported control: Unverified. Current tenure requires separate dated evidence.

5. Officeholder evidence

Dated roster observations are not automatically current tenure. The source current-office flag means this office is tracked now, not that the last winner still holds it.

Officeholder observations
PersonRoleAs ofAffiliationPrincipal?
LUIS WILBERTO TENORIO GARCIAREGIDURÍAS PROPIETARIAS2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
ADILIA REYES CALEROREGIDURÍAS PROPIETARIAS2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
JUAN JOSE SEGURA LOBOREGIDURÍAS PROPIETARIAS2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
FRANCISCA ROXANA ORTIZ CHEVEZREGIDURÍAS PROPIETARIAS2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
MARCIANETH REYES NOGUERAREGIDURÍAS PROPIETARIAS2024LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
JUAN CARLOS CAMACHO ESPINOZAREGIDURÍAS PROPIETARIAS2024LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
ANGIE VALERIA GARCIA NAVARRETEREGIDURÍAS PROPIETARIAS2024LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
CARLOS ALBERTO MARTINEZ TALENOREGIDURÍAS SUPLENTES2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute
MARIANA BRIONES OLIVARESREGIDURÍAS SUPLENTES2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute
ALFREDO LARA PARRALESREGIDURÍAS SUPLENTES2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute
CINTHYA DEL SOCORRO PEREZ BAEZREGIDURÍAS SUPLENTES2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute
RAQUEL CASCANTE ALANISREGIDURÍAS SUPLENTES2024LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
RICARDO SAGOT BEJARANOREGIDURÍAS SUPLENTES2024LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
LAURA JULIA COREA GARCIAREGIDURÍAS SUPLENTES2024LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
MIGUEL ANGEL ALVAREZ BRAVOREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
ADILIA REYES CALEROREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
FELIX PEDRO MARTINEZ UGARTEREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
SONIA VILLAVICENCIO ESCAMILLAREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
JUAN CARLOS CAMACHO ESPINOZAREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
HAZEL SOLIS RAMIREZREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020NUEVA REPÚBLICAprincipal
OSCAR EMILIO ULATE MORALESREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOprincipal
WALTER CATON LEZAMAREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2020UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute
MARIANA BRIONES OLIVARESREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2020UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute
ALFREDO LARA PARRALESREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2020UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute
ALFREDO RUIZ JIMENEZREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
ODALIA GALLO RODRIGUEZREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
JOSE ELIAS CALDERON VEGAREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2020NUEVA REPÚBLICAsubstitute
KENYA VANETTIA CHAVES BRICEÑOREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2020REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOsubstitute
LILLIAM SANCHEZ BALTODANOREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
CARLOS LUIS VALVERDE CALVOREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
MARIELA RUIZ MURILLOREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
ALVARO CARRILLO ALFAROREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOprincipal
LESVIA CRUZ MONTANOREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOprincipal
HERMOGENES RIVAS CHAVARRIAREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016ACCIÓN CIUDADANAprincipal
DAISY ELIZONDO VILLALOBOSREGIDORES(AS) PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016ACCIÓN CIUDADANAprincipal
JOSE BENIGNO BRICEÑO CUBEROREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
MELIDA MIRANDA ROMEROREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
MIGUEL LARA TORRESREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
DIGNA ESPINOZA ROMEROREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2016REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOsubstitute
ALVARO ANTONIO VILLALOBOS MENDEZREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2016REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOsubstitute
LILLIAM AGUIRRE MEZAREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2016ACCIÓN CIUDADANAsubstitute
EMILIO ORTIZ RUIZREGIDORES(AS) SUPLENTES2016ACCIÓN CIUDADANAsubstitute

6. Polling context

No local poll supplied.

7. Unresolved issues and sources

  • other · open

    Published province heading correction: {"issue": "Published province heading correction", "year": 2020, "area": "Heredia", "source_id": "S41377daad8", "resolution": "The amendment corrects CARTAGO to HEREDIA in the second table heading. It changes no votes, winners or seats; the original declaration is joined to Heredia."}

Sources

Cite this record

Center for Digital Democracy. “UPALA — Municipal council.” Subnational Election Observatory, releaselatin-america-fe5e91689def, snapshot 2026-09-13. /electiondatabase/offices/CR-C-ALAJUELA-UPALA. Sources: costa-rica--url-ae6cfb21525f974d8912a00e, costa-rica--url-9b0bf8940eb485b811da317e, costa-rica--url-f8a1e09c9e89a7e5e9c55114, costa-rica--Sc1df243471, costa-rica--S9f25ea0c9f, costa-rica--Sfa91292290, costa-rica--Sf78d58d062, costa-rica--S79669f3e5d, costa-rica--S06946938a3.