Nicaraguan general election, 1963

A general elections were held in Nicaragua to elect a president and parliament on February 3, 1963.

Evidence of massive impending fraud caused the Traditional Conservative Party to abandon its loyalist stance of the previous decade and to boycott the 1963 elections, thereby raising the party’s credibility among the public at large”.[1]

The elections were held in an atmosphere of overwhelming apathy, and the official returns, which in some areas showed more voters than the total adult population, gave Schick a victory margin of better than ten to one”.[2]Both the OAS and the U.S. embassy served as observers, although embassy officials later admitted that the accuracy of the preliminary and final vote count ‘will never be known”.[3]

Presidential election results[4]

Candidate Party/Alliance Votes %
René Schick Gutiérrez Liberal Nationalist Party (PLN) 408,131 90.48%
Diego Manuel Chamorro Bolaños Conservative Party (PC) 42,933 09.52%
Total valid votes 451,064 100%
Spoilt and invalid votes ?? ??
Total votes/Turnout ?? ??
Registered voters 570,000
Population 1,535,588

Legislative election [5]

Parties and alliances Votes % Seats/ Senate Seats/ Chamber of Deputies
Liberal Nationalist Party (PLN) 408,131 90.48% 12 28
Conservative Party (PC) 42,933 09.52% 04+3* 14
Total valid votes 540,714 100% 16+3* 42
Spoilt and invalid votes ?? ??
Total votes/Turnout ?? ??
Registered voters ??
Population 1,700,000

(*) Plus the defeated Presidential candidate in 1963 (Conservative) and two life-time Senators (Conservatives) by virtue of their being ex-Presidents of the Republic.

References

  1. Booth, John A. The end and the beginning: the Nicaraguan revolution. Boulder: Westview Press. Second edition, revised and updated. 1985. Pp. 99.
  2. Millett, Richard. Guardians of the dynasty: a history of the U.S. created Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua and the Somoza Family. Maryknoll: Orbis Books. 1977. Pp. 226.
  3. Gambone, Michael D. Capturing the revolution: the United States, Central America, and Nicaragua, 1961-1972. Westport: Praeger. 2001. Pp. 37.
  4. Elections in the Americas : a data handbook / ed. by Dieter Nohlen, Vol. 1. [Oxford] [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. Pp.501.
  5. Elections in the Americas : a data handbook / ed. by Dieter Nohlen, Vol. 1. [Oxford] [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. Pp.496.

Bibliography