Almost 100,000 naturalized Costa Ricans will be able to vote in the 2026 elections

Q COSTA RICA – Nicaraguans, Colombians, and Salvadorans top the list of naturalized citizens with the greatest presence on the 2026 electoral roll.

In total, 94,533 naturalized voters will be able to exercise their right to vote on February 1st, 2026 (and the second round vote if required) when the national elections are held.

According to data from the Statistics Unit of the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), this group of voters is made up of 53,792 women and 40,741 men.

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San José is the province with the largest number of naturalized citizens, with 41,924, followed by Alajuela with 15,266 and Heredia with 11,428.

Compared to the 2024 municipal elections, the number of naturalized citizens registered on the electoral roll grew by 10,117, representing a 10.7% increase over the 84,416 who would have exercised their right to vote in the previous election.

Costa Rica’s voter registry reflects the diverse origins of those who are now Costa Ricans: 140 different nationalities are represented.

The majority of naturalized citizens in Costa Rica come from Nicaragua, Colombia, El Salvador, and Panama. Specifically, 56.1% of naturalized citizens are originally from Nicaragua, according to the TSE. Colombians represent 11.4%, Salvadorans 5.6%, and Panamanians 2.8%.

Other naturalized voters in Costa Rica are from the Dominican Republic, the United States, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Chile, Taiwan, Spain, Ecuador, Argentina, Canada and Italy, among others.

See here the number of immigrants with legal residence in Costa Rica in 2020, by nationality, according to Statista

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As required by the country’s constitution, the deadline for naturalized citizens, that is they have been issued their ‘cedula’ (citizenship card) to participate in the 2026 presidential elections was January 31st.

For the 2026 presidential elections, the current electoral roll includes 3.6 million eligible voters, of whom 2.55% are naturalized citizens.

Transparency Note: This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence tools, with information sourced from reliable sources and reviewed for accuracy and clarity.

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