Costa Rica's Sunday presidential elections likely to head to second round - study

FILE PHOTO: Presidential candidate of the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) Lineth Saborio greets supporters outside a fast food restaurant that challenged the presidential candidates to show up to demonstrate how much they want to work for the people in order to give away four thousand hamburgers on election day, ahead of the February 6 general election in San Jose, Costa Rica January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Mayela Lopez/File Photo

Costa Ricans will head to the polls on Sunday for a general elections likely to trigger a second-round vote in early April, with none of the 25 presidential candidates expected to win more than the 40% of the votes needed to avoid a runoff, according to a study.

The wide field, including a former president and an evangelical preacher, is vying to replace progressive President Carlos Alvarado in an election that will change the make up of the 57-member Congress dominated by the National Liberation Party (PLN), born on the center-left in the middle of the 20th century.