This year, many are predicting that the municipal elections in Costa Rica could be a disaster with almost no one turning up to place their votes. In the run up to these elections there have been allegations of corruption, scandals and unfinished business, and this seems to have put the voting population off having their say.

When a local newspaper carried out a public survey on the streets of San Jose, the overwhelming majority of people said that they did not see themselves voting. In fact only one person said that they would be using their vote on Sunday, and she works for the Supreme Elections Tribunal. It really doesn't look to promising if this poll is to go by, however some people involved in the election process still claim that the turnout could well be better than expected. They have reported an increase in citizen participation in the run up to the elections, with some people eager to have their say. These people include a group of blind citizens, who have had their wish for brail ballot papers granted, to allow them to cast their vote unassisted for the first time.

But again there is a strong suggestion that there may even be fewer people turn up on Sunday, than the previous election in 2202, where a staggering 77% of the voting population stayed at home. Even strong supporters of the election campaign such as Raul Barboza, of the institute of for Municipal Development, seem to have a bad feeling about this weekend, pinning large amounts of hope on whether the weather will be good in order to entice more people out of their homes to the elections. This cant be a good sign!

He stated that last year, election day was very wet, with rain for most of the day, and that this was a major factor in the choice of voters to come or not. If this is true, then a sunny day could bring a decent amount of voters, but again many people have said that they do not plan on voting, whatever the weather.

Is an election where the number of voters is based on the weather really going to give a true reflection what the people want?