Authors: Luis Antonio Sobrado & Ileana Aguilar
Background
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) was one of the main institutional innovations of the country’s Political Constitution of 1949. During a historical situation in which disrespect for elections led to a war, the constituents chose to create a top electoral body that safeguarded its independence and professionalism. The Costa Rican model of electoral organization represented a milestone in Latin American public law that technically gave the TSE the status of a fourth state branch, equivalent to the legislative, executive and judicial powers.
Institutional Judicial Framework
The work of the TSE is comprised within the country’s current legal regulations under the hierarchy of the electoral legislation (see Electoral Code, article 3): the political constitution, current international agreements, electoral laws, regulations, guidelines and press releases issued by the Tribunal, statutes of registered political parties, and other provisions under the regulations and party statutes.
Non-written norms such as electoral jurisprudence, the main general principles of law, the principles of electoral law and custom are also part of the applicable judicial regulation with the rank of the norm they interpret — and are part of, or delimit — and they are binding toward everyone except the Tribunal. Thus changes in its jurisprudential criteria should be enacted through well-founded reasoning, and all interested parties must be duly informed.
Mission and Functions
In accordance with its philosophical context, the mission of the TSE is to organize and arbitrate transparent and reliable electoral processes that can foster democratic coexistence and provide civil registry and identification services to Costa Rican citizens.
To accomplish its mission, the TSE performs four main functions:
- Electoral administration: organizes, directs and controls all suffrage-related acts.
- Civil registry: issues ID documents, and registers and certifies all events related to civil matters including birth, adoption, marriage, divorce, death or adoption of Costa Rican nationality.
- Jurisdictional: breaking away from the classic scheme of the monopoly of the jurisdictional function under the Judicial Branch, the Political Constitution of 1949 granted the TSE the power to dictate resolutions that are unappealable in electoral matters.
- Formation in democracy: promotes democratic values and civic participation through the formulation and execution of training programmes; and research on and publication about topics related to democracy and elections geared toward electoral employees, political parties, students and citizens in general.
Institutional Structure
The TSE is the highest authority in electoral and administrative matters. It has 32 regional offices throughout the country and directly supervises a number of other offices. It is comprised of three tenure magistrate judges and three substitute magistrates, who must satisfy the same requirements as the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice. The court appoints the magistrates of the Tribunal for a six-year term through a public contest in which the professional and academic merits of the candidates are assessed without intervention from the political parties or congress. During an electoral period, the Tribunal is comprised of five magistrate judges.
Financing
The TSE is wholly financed with public funds. Its institutional budget includes the needs of all its functional and operational areas. The budget is presented to the authorities of the Ministry of the Treasury, and is approved by the legislative branch.
Accountability
The philosophical framework that governs the TSE incorporates transparency as a constant attitude toward justice, impartiality, truth, objectivity, openness and accountability. The Budget Law assigns public funds to the TSE on a yearly basis, and all contracts and payments are subject to control and revision by the General Comptroller of the Republic, which is an auxiliary constitutional body of congress that deals with matters concerning the supervision of the National Treasury.
The TSE also belongs to an Inter-institutional Network of Transparency, which has the aim of fostering citizens’ access to information related to the administration of public funds through its Internet publications.
The TSE publishes on its webpage all the minutes of its sessions, the institutional budget, financial information, details of purchases and acquisitions, payroll information as well as its Annual Work Report. The latter is presented publicly each year before local authorities and citizens.
The Professionalism of Electoral Officers
Since its creation, the TSE has recruited and trained its staff to guarantee transparent and efficient elections with the highest standards of electoral organization. Due to the continuous modernization of electoral processes, there is ongoing training for electoral workers.
Many years ago the TSE established a process of staff assessment that is linked to a programme of professional upgrading and career development, with a view to developing a cadre of election administration professionals. The stability and professionalism of electoral staff has been a strength of Costa Rican electoral administration.
Along with the regular staff, the TSE engages temporary election personnel to carry out some of the tasks of electoral administration (electoral aides and the National Board of Delegates). To successfully accomplish its tasks, the TSE provides them with training on all matters concerning the electoral process, current regulations and election logistics.
Media Relations
The Electoral Code regulates polling organizations and the dissemination of electoral propaganda in the mass media, which grants the TSE some control over these areas.
- Only those enterprises and mass media previously registered with the TSE will be able to provide electoral propaganda services. They must guarantee equal treatment to all political parties participating in the electoral process. Polling and surveying organizations must also register with the TSE.
- There is an advertising ban effective during Christmas (16 December–1 January) and three days prior to election day.
- The publication or dissemination of polls and surveys concerning the electoral process is prohibited for three days before the elections. The director of any mass media organization that violates this norm is subject to monetary sanctions.
In regard to referendum processes, the regulation states that the mass media must inform the TSE of propaganda spots negotiated by the participants in the election, and about the people responsible for the publication, on a weekly basis. The mass media also have to report the current fees and any modification that may affect them.
It is important to point out that the TSE does not have control over the content of electoral propaganda. Thus, in the event that someone is offended by its content, he/she should consult with the appropriate judicial body.
It is also important to note that due to a provision established in Law no. 1758, ‘The Radio Law’, after a call for elections has been made, the TSE is granted free 30-minute spots on commercial radio and TV stations every week to give directions regarding cultural and civic topics.
Relations with Other Institutions
The Political Constitution of 1949 granted the TSE the rank of a constitutional body with financial and functional independence from the three government branches. Therefore its relationship with the other state institutions is similar to that of a fourth branch of government.
The TSE can establish alliances with national and international institutions with related institutional objectives. Some of its key local collaborators are the Ministry of Education, the National Institute for Women, public universities, the judicial branch and the General Comptroller of the Republic. At the international level, it has relationships with International IDEA, UNDP, OAS, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (IIDH), among others.
The TSE is also part of the Association of Electoral Bodies of Central America and the Caribbean (Tikal Protocol) and the Inter-American Union of Electoral Organizations (UNIORE). Both institutions foster the exchange of information and cooperation among participating electoral bodies.
New Technologies Management
The TSE has a General Direction of Technological Strategy that aims to promote and develop projects that have a high institutional impact in terms of information technology as a tool to improve the electoral processes and services that the institution provides. Some of the main projects currently underway are automation of processes in the General Direction of Electoral Registry, an electoral geographic information system, and strengthening the system for issuing ID documents.
Electoral Reform Management
In accordance with the constitution, the TSE must be consulted before legislation related to electoral matters is passed by congress. If a decision by congress goes against the wish of the TSE or if the TSE is not consulted, congress can pass election related legislation only with the support of at least two-thirds of its members. Likewise, the constitution states that six months prior to a popular election and four months after it, congress cannot pass laws related to electoral matters without the agreement of the TSE.
The current Electoral Code is the result of a proposal presented by the TSE to congress. The bill went through many delays and changes over two legislative periods; however, there was finally political consensus to approve the new code in 2009. It represents significant progress in the Costa Rican electoral system, such as the inclusion of a broad chapter on electoral justice, regulation of internal democratization of political parties, establishment of parity and power shift to achieve gender equity, improvement of party finance control mechanisms, the creation of the Electoral Registry and the Institute of Formation and Studies on Democracy (IFED) within the structure of the TSE, and the authorization of absentee voting as of the 2014 election.
Bibliography
Código Electoral 2009, Decreto Legislativo No. 8765, República de Costa Rica
International IDEA, Experiencias de reforma política y electoral en Colombia, Costa Rica y México desde la perspectiva comparada latinoamericana [A Comparative Latin American Perspective of Political and Electoral Reform Experiences in Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico] (Stockholm: International IDEA, 2009)
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones, Informe de Labores 2011 [Activity Report 2011] (San José: TSE, 2012)
