Election Still a Cliffhanger
With ony 85.445% (5.266) of the voting station vote counted, Oscar Arias is hanging on with a 5.168 vote lead over Ottón Solís.

Of the 548 voting stations yet not counted, 161 (29%) and 76 (13%) are still to come from San José and Alajuela, two strong areas for Solís. Arias has done well in Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limon, but falling behind Solís in San José and Alajuela and slightly ahead in Heredia.

The race is still too close to call. Both leaders are avoiding television cameras and newspaper reporters. At the Arias home in Rohrmoser, Rodrigo Arias, Oscar's brother and campaign manager, answered the door, refusing to comment or speculate when his brother will make an announcement.

At the Solís camp, much of the same quietness prevails. Neither Ottón, nor the more outspoken Epsy Campbell, first vice presidential candidate, are talking.

Since the vote is so close, the Tribuanl Supremo de Elecciones is being extra careful in the count, especially in tallying the "votos en blanco" and "votos nulo" - spoile ballots. Some foreigners (mostly Americans) are questioning the process of why it's taking so long when in the past the results where almost immediate.

One commented directed to Insidecostarica.com by a telephone caller this morning, "are the Ticos now becoming like the Americans?"