TSE lifts withholding and transfers ¢511,823.96 to the Unidos Podemos party

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) lifted the hold on the state contribution for the Unidos Podemos party and ordered the payment of ¢511,823.96 for valid and verified expenses from the 2024 municipal electoral campaign. The decision is contained in the resolution of file No. 381-2024, issued at 10:15 hours on September 11, 2026, and published in La Gaceta No. 185 on Thursday, October 1, 2026.

The resolution is based on official letter No. DFPP-1054-2026 dated September 8, 2026, signed by Ronald Chacón Badilla, head of the Department of Political Party Financing, which reports that the organization complied with the publication of audited financial statements—including the contributions report—for the annual periods 2021-2024, ending June 30, as provided in ordinal 135 of the Electoral Code.

With this input, the Tribunal concluded that the reason justifying the hold established in resolution No. 7325-E10-2024 at 11:00 hours on October 7, 2024, had been rectified; therefore, the appropriate action was to lift the measure and order the transfer of the recognized sum.

The amount and its destination

• Beneficiary: Unidos Podemos party, legal ID No. 3-110-788316.
• Amount: ¢511,823.96 (five hundred eleven thousand eight hundred twenty-three colones and ninety-six cents).
• Concept: state contribution for valid and verified expenses of the 2024 municipal electoral campaign.
• Account used for the settlement of expenses: IBAN No. CR54010000081301000124 at Coopealianza, in the name of the organization.

The ruling reminds the Ministry of Finance and the National Treasury that the political organization used that bank account for the settlement of its expenses, a fact recorded on pages 4 and 10 reverse of the file.

Notifications and procedure

The TSE ordered the notification of the resolution to the Unidos Podemos party, the National Treasury, and the Ministry of Finance, agencies to which a simple copy of resolution No. 7325-E10-2024 will also be sent. It also ordered that the decision be communicated to the General Directorate of the Electoral Registry and Political Party Financing and the Department of Political Party Financing, and that the ruling be published in the Official Gazette.

The resolution was signed by magistrates Max Alberto Esquivel Faerron, Mary Anne Mannix Arnold, and Wendy de los Ángeles González Araya.

Public money under oversight

The state contribution to political parties is public money transferred against the settlement of campaign expenses, following verification that the organization complied with the audit and the publication of its financial statements. When these requirements are not proven, the TSE withholds the payment; once the deficiency is rectified, it orders the release of the funds.

In this case, the withholding had been arranged in October 2024 and was maintained until the Political Party Financing Department certified compliance with the publications corresponding to the 2021-2024 periods.

The ordered transfer is for ¢511,823.96, a figure lower than the settlements of other groups published in the same period, but relevant because it confirms that the mechanism for withholding and releasing the state contribution continues to operate as a control over the use of public resources in municipal politics.

Source: La Gaceta, No. 185 of Thursday, October 1, 2026, Resolutions of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal section, pág. 85-86 (official reference: IN202601127292).