Vice Presidents of Costa Rica

The 1949 Constitution of Costa Rica established two Vice-Presidencies of Costa Rica, which are directly elected through a popular vote on a ticket with the President for a period of four years, with no immediate re-election. Various incarnations of this position have seen several Vice Presidents of Costa Rica. They replace the President in cases of temporary or permanent absence.

Throughout the history of independent Costa Rica, there have been different systems to cover the temporary or permanent lack of a President. Several different names have been used for this position:
*From 1821 to 1824, the Governing Committee (Junta) selected a Vice-President.
*From 1824 to 1841 there was a Vice-Head-of-State who was popularly elected.
*From 1841 to 1842 there was a Second-Head-of-State, elected for life by popular vote.
*From 1842 to 1844 there was a Vice-Head-of-State selected by the Constitutional Assembly.
*From 1846 to 1847 there was a popularly-elected Vice-Head-of-State.
*From 1847 to 1848 there was a Vice-President of the State, elected by popular vote.
*From 1848 to 1859 there was a Vice-President of the Republic, selected through popular election.
*From 1859 to 1949 there was a system of Designates to the Presidency, usually selected by the Legislature.
*Since 1949 there have been two popularly elected Vice Presidents.

The following tables contain a list of the officials elected to the Vice-Presidential position from 1821 to 2006.

Vice Presidents of the Governing Committees of Costa Rice (1821- 1824)

Between 1821 and 1824 Costa Rica was governed through a system of Govening Committees who chose from among their members a President and a Vice-President.

Vice-Heads-of-State (1842-1844; 1846-1847)

From 1842 to 1844 and from 1846 to 1847 the country returned to the system of Vice-Heads-of-State.

Designates to the Presidency 1860-1881

In the Costa Rican constitutions of 1859, 1869 and 1871, the role of popularly elected Vice-President was replaced by two Designates to the Presidency, elected annually by Congress.

Vice-Presidents of Costa Rica (since 1949)

In accordance with the Costa Rican constitution of 7 November 1949 there are two vice presidents, popularly elected at the same time as the President.