1990 Nicaraguan general election

General elections were held in Nicaragua on 25 February 1990.[1] The result was a victory for the National Opposition Union (UNO), whose presidential candidate Violeta Chamorro surprisingly defeated incumbent president Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)[2]. Opinion polls leading up to the elections divided along partisan lines, with 10 of 17 polls analyzed in a contemporary study predicting an UNO victory while seven predicted the Sandinistas would retain power.[3][4]

1990 Nicaraguan presidential election
25 February 1990
 
Candidate Violeta Chamorro Daniel Ortega
Party UNO FSLN
Popular vote 777,552 579,886
Percentage 54.74% 40.82%
President before election

Daniel Ortega
FSLN

 President-elect

Violeta Chamorro
UNO

Possible explanations include that the Nicaraguan people were disenchanted with the Ortega government and/or calibrated their responses to polls to their perceptions of the pollsters' biases, as well as the fact that already in November 1989, the White House had announced that the economic embargo against Nicaragua would end if Violeta Chamorro won.[5] Also, there had been reports of intimidation from the side of the contras,[6] with a Canadian observer mission claiming that 42 people were killed by the contras in "election violence" in October 1989.[7] This led many commentators to assume that Nicaraguans voted against the Sandinistas out of fear of a continuation of the contra war and economic deprivation.[4]

Results

President
Candidate Party Votes %
Violeta Barrios de ChamorroNational Opposition Union777,55254.74
Daniel OrtegaSandinista National Liberation Front579,88640.82
Erick Ramírez BeneventesSocial Christian Party16,7511.18
Issa Moisés Hassán MoralesRevolutionary Unity Movement11,1360.78
Bonifacio Miranda BengoecheaWorkers' Revolutionary Party8,5900.60
Isidro Téllez ToruñoMarxist-Leninist Popular Action Movement8,1150.57
Fernando Bernabé Agüero RochaSocial Conservative Party5,7980.41
Blanca Rojas EchaverryCentral American Unionist Party5,0650.36
Eduardo Molina PalaciosDemocratic Conservative Party of Nicaragua4,5000.32
Rodolfo Robelo HerreraIndependent Liberal Party for National Unity3,1510.22
Invalid/blank votes90,249–
Total1,510,838100
Registered voters/turnout1,752,08886.23
Source: Nohlen

National Assembly
Parties and alliances Votes % Seats
National Opposition Union764,74853.951
Sandinista National Liberation Front579,72340.839
Social Christian Party22,2181.61
Revolutionary Unity Movement13,9951.01
Workers' Revolutionary Party10,5860.70
Marxist-Leninist Popular Action Movement7,6430.50
Social Conservative Party6,3080.40
Central American Unionist Party5,5650.40
Democratic Conservative Party of Nicaragua5,0830.40
Independent Liberal Party for National Unity3,5150.20
Invalid/blank votes92,723––
Total1,512,10710092
Registered voters/turnout1,752,08886.3–
Source: Nohlen

By region
Region FSLN UNO Other
Boaco 24.04% 70.70% 5.26%
Carazo 51.62% 44.55% 3.84%
Chinandega 41.71% 54.26% 4.03%
Chontales 25.48% 70.31% 4.22%
Esteli 51.07% 44.45% 4.47%
Granada 37.52% 58.63% 3.85%
Jinotega 37.44% 54.81% 7.74%
Leon 45.67% 50.45% 3.87%
Madriz 40.90% 54.50% 4.59%
Managua 42.48% 53.35% 4.17%
Masaya 41.84% 54.65% 3.50%
Matagalpa 35.50% 59.27% 5.23%
Nueva Segovia 49.51% 46.60% 3.89%
RAAN 39.21% 17.02% 43.77%
RAAS 34.37% 58.70% 6.93%
Rio San Juan 57.72% 39.47% 2.81%
Rivas 45.09% 51.56% 3.34%
Source: Constituency Level Elections Archive[8]
gollark: Ah, that would have done it, yes.
gollark: Probably.
gollark: The old versions, I mean.
gollark: The FS functions *themselves* would work okay, but stuff which used them seemed to keep them in scope or something.
gollark: I couldn't get FS virtualization to work properly without erasing and reconstructing the environment.

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p489 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. Uhlig, Mark A. (27 February 1990). "Turnover in Nicaragua; NICARAGUAN OPPOSITION ROUTS SANDINISTAS; U.S. PLEDGES AID, TIED TO ORDERLY TURNOVER". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  3. Bischoping, Katherine; Schuman, Howard (May 1992). "Pens and Polls in Nicaragua: An Analysis of the 1990 Pre-election Surveys". American Journal of Political Science. 36 (2): 331–350. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  4. "After the Poll Wars-Explaining the Upset". Envio. March 1990.
  5. "Bush Vows to End Embargo if Chamorro Wins", The Washington Post, 9 November 1989
  6. "The policy of keeping the contras alive ... also has placed in jeopardy the holding of elections by encouraging contra attacks on the electoral process. Thus, while the Bush administration proclaims its support for human rights and free and fair elections in Nicaragua, it persists in sabotaging both." As seen at: "Nicaragua" Human Rights Watch, 1990
  7. "U.S. trying to disrupt election in Nicaragua, Canadians report" The Toronto Star, 27 October 1989
  8. "Constituency-Level Elections Archive (CLEA)". www.electiondataarchive.org. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
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