title: 1902 Costa Rican general election
text: # 1902 Costa Rican general election
  
  General elections were held in Costa Rica on 16 February 1902. They occurred under growing political tensions. The authoritarian government of Rafael Yglesias was in direct confrontation with the opposition and had re-elected himself as single-candidate in the previous election by a questionable constitutional reform. The liberal Republican Party represented the most staunch opposition and the country was on the edge of civil war. However, Yglesias managed to negotiate with the moderate branch of the Republicans for a peaceful power exchange.
  
  This new election was called with two candidates: Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra from the newly formed National Union Party and Máximo Fernández Alvarado under the banner of the "Republican Club". Both liberals. Esquivel won by a large margin.
  
  ## Results
  
  In the first round, Yglesias did not run, but some electors voted for him rather than for Esquivel.
  
  | Candidate | Candidate | Party | First round | First round | Second round | Second round |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Votes | % |
  | | Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra | National Union Party | 549 | 71.30 | 610 | 78.81 |
  | | Máximo Fernández Alvarado | Republican Party | 134 | 17.40 | 164 | 21.19 |
  | | Rafael Yglesias Castro | Civil Party | 87 | 11.30 | | |
  | Total | Total | Total | 770 | 100.00 | 774 | 100.00 |
  | Source: TSE, Salazar |||||||
  
  ### First round by province
  
  | Province | Esquivel | Fernández | $Yglesias^1$ |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | San José Province | 204 | 30 | - |
  | Alajuela | 132 | 63 | - |
  | Cartago Province | 90 | 12 | 15 |
  | Heredia | 60 | 29 | - |
  | Guanacaste | 3 | - | 72 |
  | Puntarenas | 33 | - | - |
  | Limón | 27 | - | - |
  | Total | 549 | 134 | 87 |
  | Source: Salazar ||||
  
  ### Second round by province
  
  | Province | Esquivel | Fernández |
  | - | - | - |
  | San José Province | 199 | 42 |
  | Alajuela | 122 | 70 |
  | Cartago Province | 96 | 12 |
  | Heredia | 56 | 40 |
  | Guanacaste | 69 | - |
  | Puntarenas | 39 | - |
  | Limón | 29 | - |
  | Total | 610 | 164 |
  | Source: TSE |||
  