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

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Office briefing

SAN RAFAEL — Syndic and district council — shared ballot

Tracked current office. Identifiers stay separate from display names.

Costa Rica · SAN RAFAEL / HEREDIA · other · Syndic and district council — shared ballotCR-D-HEREDIA-SAN-RAFAEL-SAN-RAFAEL

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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
SAN RAFAEL / HEREDIA
Next election
2028-02-06
Linked upcoming event
next-f1fcefa7d8f6f46522140b4c
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

  • BIENESTAR RAFAELEÑO34.5%
  • UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANA25.0%
  • LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL24.9%
  • PROGRESO SOCIAL DEMOCRÁTICO4.0%
  • AQUÍ COSTA RICA MANDA3.5%
  • FRENTE AMPLIO3.2%
  • LIBERAL PROGRESISTA3.0%
  • PUEBLO SOBERANO2.0%
Results for event-24dd605f1487ca420832a10e
Label / candidateParty codeVotesShareSeatsStatus
BIENESTAR RAFAELEÑOcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20241,20134.5%3Recorded
UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/202487025%1Recorded
LIBERACIÓN NACIONALcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/202486624.9%1Recorded
PROGRESO SOCIAL DEMOCRÁTICOcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20241404%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
AQUÍ COSTA RICA MANDAcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20241233.5%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
FRENTE AMPLIOcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20241123.2%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
LIBERAL PROGRESISTAcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/20241043%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
PUEBLO SOBERANOcosta-rica/Sc1df243471/2024682%0 (recorded zero)Recorded

2020-02-02

Ordinary · Legal certification not established · list votes

  • LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL40.5%
  • UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANA26.8%
  • ACCIÓN CIUDADANA10.8%
  • FRENTE AMPLIO7.4%
  • NUEVA REPÚBLICA6.9%
  • UNIDOS PODEMOS5.7%
  • REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANO1.9%
Results for event-a834747e4b5563bf7014bfc1
Label / candidateParty codeVotesShareSeatsStatus
LIBERACIÓN NACIONALcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20201,43240.5%3Recorded
UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/202094926.8%2Recorded
ACCIÓN CIUDADANAcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/202038210.8%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
FRENTE AMPLIOcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20202617.4%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
NUEVA REPÚBLICAcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20202436.9%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
UNIDOS PODEMOScosta-rica/Sfa91292290/20202025.7%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOcosta-rica/Sfa91292290/2020661.9%0 (recorded zero)Recorded

2016-02-07

Ordinary · Legal certification not established · list votes

  • LIBERACIÓN NACIONAL39.2%
  • ACCIÓN CIUDADANA21.1%
  • UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANA15.6%
  • FRENTE AMPLIO10.3%
  • REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANO9.8%
  • MOVIMIENTO LIBERTARIO4.1%
Results for event-6c9cfe93a0b3d8cd2a1fa492
Label / candidateParty codeVotesShareSeatsStatus
LIBERACIÓN NACIONALcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/20161,24839.2%3Recorded
ACCIÓN CIUDADANAcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/201667121.1%1Recorded
UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/201649615.6%1Recorded
FRENTE AMPLIOcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/201632910.3%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
REPUBLICANO SOCIAL CRISTIANOcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/20163129.8%0 (recorded zero)Recorded
MOVIMIENTO LIBERTARIOcosta-rica/S79669f3e5d/20161304.1%0 (recorded zero)Recorded

4. Competition and volatility

competition index

Provisional imported-series CI

41.950–100 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=9.500574052812858, oldest_gap=18.11048336472065, previous_gap=13.663366336633665

pedersen volatility

Provisional volatility

41.24percentage 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=[[24.856486796785305,24.97129735935706,0,3.214695752009185,0,0,0,0,0,0,2.985074626865672,4.018369690011481,39.954075774971294],[40.50919377652051,26.845827439886847,10.806223479490805,7.383309759547383,0,6.874115983026874,0,0,0,1.8670438472418671,0,0,5.714285714285714],[39.1713747645951,15.568110483364721,21.06089139987445,10.326428123038292,0,0,4.080351537978657,0,0,9.792843691148775,0,0,0]]

pedersen volatility

Provisional volatility

25.2percentage 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=[[24.856486796785305,24.97129735935706,0,3.214695752009185,0,0,0,0,0,0,2.985074626865672,4.018369690011481,39.954075774971294],[40.50919377652051,26.845827439886847,10.806223479490805,7.383309759547383,0,6.874115983026874,0,0,0,1.8670438472418671,0,0,5.714285714285714],[39.1713747645951,15.568110483364721,21.06089139987445,10.326428123038292,0,0,4.080351537978657,0,0,9.792843691148775,0,0,0]]

pedersen volatility

Provisional volatility

33.22percentage 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=[[24.856486796785305,24.97129735935706,0,3.214695752009185,0,0,0,0,0,0,2.985074626865672,4.018369690011481,39.954075774971294],[40.50919377652051,26.845827439886847,10.806223479490805,7.383309759547383,0,6.874115983026874,0,0,0,1.8670438472418671,0,0,5.714285714285714],[39.1713747645951,15.568110483364721,21.06089139987445,10.326428123038292,0,0,4.080351537978657,0,0,9.792843691148775,0,0,0]]

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?
SHIRLENEY SANCHEZ SANCHEZSINDICATURAS PROPIETARIA2024BIENESTAR RAFAELEÑOprincipal
OSVALDO LOBO PROTTISINDICATURAS SUPLENTE2024BIENESTAR RAFAELEÑOsubstitute
LUIS ENRIQUE ALVAREZ MEDINACONCEJALÍAS DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIAS2024BIENESTAR RAFAELEÑOprincipal
NATALIA ESQUIVEL ALFAROCONCEJALÍAS DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIAS2024BIENESTAR RAFAELEÑOprincipal
JOSE JULIAN LOBO RAMIREZCONCEJALÍAS DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIAS2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
REBECA MARIA RAMIREZ BARQUEROCONCEJALÍAS DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIAS2024LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
ALVARO ALBERTO CALDERON TORRESCONCEJALÍAS DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2024BIENESTAR RAFAELEÑOsubstitute
FABIOLA MARIA ESPINOZA GONZALEZCONCEJALÍAS DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2024BIENESTAR RAFAELEÑOsubstitute
LAURA PATRICIA MADRIGAL ESQUIVELCONCEJALÍAS DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2024UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute
MARIA JOSE GARITA ACUÑACONCEJALÍAS DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2024LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
ADRIANA CAROLINA RAMIREZ ROSALESSÍNDICOS(AS) PROPIETARIA2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
VICTOR HUGO VARGAS OVIEDOSÍNDICOS(AS) SUPLENTE2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
ANDREA CASTRO SOLISCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
JUAN PABLO HERNANDEZ ROJASCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
RUBEN VILLALOBOS LOBOCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
IRLENE YINETH JIMENEZ VEGACONCEJALES DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIOS(AS)2020UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
FELIPE VIQUEZ MADRIGALCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
ELIDA ACUÑA CHAVARRIACONCEJALES DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2020LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
NATALIA MADRIGAL VILLALOBOSSÍNDICOS(AS) PROPIETARIA2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
JOSE RAFAEL JIMENEZ GAMBOASÍNDICOS(AS) SUPLENTE2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
YORDEN MORERA CHAVESCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
ELIDA ACUÑA CHAVARRIACONCEJALES DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALprincipal
ANTONIO RAFAEL ROJAS ALFAROCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016ACCIÓN CIUDADANAprincipal
ARIANA EUGENIA ESPINOZA SOLISCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO PROPIETARIOS(AS)2016UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAprincipal
ANDREA CASTRO SOLISCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
JUAN DIEGO MATAMOROS BENAVIDESCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2016LIBERACIÓN NACIONALsubstitute
CECILIA MARIA VILLALOBOS HERNANDEZCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2016ACCIÓN CIUDADANAsubstitute
LUIS ADRIAN GRANADOS MADRIZCONCEJALES DE DISTRITO SUPLENTES2016UNIDAD SOCIAL CRISTIANAsubstitute

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. “SAN RAFAEL — Syndic and district council — shared ballot.” Subnational Election Observatory, releaselatin-america-fe5e91689def, snapshot 2026-09-13. /electiondatabase/offices/CR-D-HEREDIA-SAN-RAFAEL-SAN-RAFAEL. Sources: costa-rica--url-ae6cfb21525f974d8912a00e, costa-rica--url-9b0bf8940eb485b811da317e, costa-rica--url-f8a1e09c9e89a7e5e9c55114, costa-rica--Sc1df243471, costa-rica--S202e3bbb63, costa-rica--Sfa91292290, costa-rica--S2f97ba6170, costa-rica--S79669f3e5d, costa-rica--Sfefc16a912.