TSE cancels credentials of two alternate council members from Coto Brus

San José — The Supreme Electoral Tribunal canceled the credentials of the alternate council members of the Municipality of Coto Brus, Romario Navarro Barrantes and Garla Graciela Ugalde Rivera, for unjustifiably absenting themselves from the sessions of the local council for more than two months. The measure was adopted in resolution No. 9162-M-2026, case file 302-2026, and was published in La Gaceta No. 194 on Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

The agreement of the Municipal Council of Coto Brus

The case file was opened by official letter No. MCB-CM-477-2026 dated July 28, 2026, received by the Office Secretariat on August 7 of the same year. In that document, Hannia Alejandra Campos Campos, secretary of the Municipal Council of Coto Brus, reported that the body, in ordinary session No. 115-2026 on July 13, 2026, agreed to request the Tribunal to cancel the credentials of both alternate council members.

The Municipal Code provides, in article 24 subsection b), that unjustified absence from the sessions of the respective council for more than two months is grounds for loss of the council member credential, a rule that article 28 of the same code extends to alternate council members. The presidency of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal granted a hearing to the involved parties via an order at 1:15 p.m. on August 13, 2026, with a period of eight business days to justify the absences or state whatever they considered convenient for their interests.

Absences exceeding the legal term

The facts that the Tribunal considered proven and which support the cancellation are as follows:

• Romario Navarro Barrantes was declared elected as an alternate council member of the canton of Coto Brus, province of Puntarenas, through resolution No. 2223-E11-2024 of March 12, 2024, and was nominated by the Social Christian Unity party (PUSC).
• Garla Graciela Ugalde Rivera was designated as an alternate council member of the same canton by resolution No. 8913-M-2025 of December 12, 2025, and was nominated by the National Liberation party (PLN).
• Navarro Barrantes stopped attending council sessions since February 10, 2025.
• Ugalde Rivera did not attend sessions since her designation on December 12, 2025.
• Both were notified of the credential cancellation process, but did not respond to the granted hearing.

With these elements, the Tribunal concluded that the absences of the two council members exceed the legally provided term, therefore making it appropriate to cancel their credentials.

The ordered substitutions

Upon the cancellation of credentials, two vacancies were created among the alternate council members of the Municipality of Coto Brus, which must be filled according to the rules that determined the election. Article 208, second paragraph, of the Electoral Code establishes that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal shall arrange for the substitution by calling to exercise the office, for the remainder of the constitutional period, the person who obtained more votes on the same list or the person who follows on the same list, as applicable.

Since the list of candidates for alternate council positions proposed by the PUSC was exhausted, the Tribunal applied the criterion established in resolution 3138-M-2012, according to which the vacancy must be filled by the first candidate for proprietary council member who was neither elected nor designated to occupy any position. The designations arranged are:

• In the vacancy left by Navarro Barrantes, Isis Safiro Barboza Calderón is designated, identity card 117850974, candidate for proprietary council member who follows on the PUSC roster.
• In the vacancy left by Ugalde Rivera, Sergio Rodríguez Chaves is designated, identity card 603690607, candidate for alternate council member who follows on the PLN roster.

Validity and notifications

The designations are effective from the swearing-in until April 30, 2028. The Tribunal ordered the automatic notification of Navarro Barrantes, Ugalde Rivera, Barboza Calderón, Rodríguez Chaves, and the Municipal Council of Coto Brus, and arranged for the publication of the resolution in the Official Gazette. The ruling was signed by magistrates Eugenia María Zamora Chavarría, Max Alberto Esquivel Faerron, and Zetty María Bou Valverde, and drafted by magistrate Bou Valverde.

The cancellation of credentials due to prolonged absence is one of the grounds that allow for the removal of a popularly elected official without a criminal sentence, and its application reminds local governments that attendance at council sessions is an enforceable obligation. With this resolution, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal restores the alternate representation of Coto Brus and affirms that party rosters are the intended mechanism for filling vacancies until the end of the constitutional period.

Source: La Gaceta, No. 194 of October 14, 2026, Supreme Electoral Tribunal Resolutions section, p. 67 (official reference: Resolution No. 9162-M-2026, file 302-2026).