Summary

This article seeks to verify the status of compliance with the principle of parity or gender equality, during the national elections of Costa Rica in 2022, in order to generate an input that provokes reflection on the improvements and weaknesses that the Costa Rican electoral political system still has in effectively fulfilling the active and inclusive participation of citizens in national politics. A descriptive analysis was carried out on the candidacies presented by the political parties involved for all positions to be elected through suffrage, based on the information provided by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). Costa Rican electoral regulations and the theoretical-conceptual principle of gender parity in political participation from a critical-feminist perspective were used as the basis. Among the main findings, it was found that the application of the principle of gender parity in Costa Rican electoral regulations has been effective considering the increase in women's representation in the number of seats they occupy in the Legislative Assembly; however, more affirmative actions need to be taken that result in changes in party statutes, party structures, mechanisms for registering candidates for single-member positions, such as the presidency and vice-presidency of the Executive Branch and the authorities of local governments, the change of the concept of sex, among others.

Keywords: Electoral system; equity; human rights; political representation; women.