Costa Ricans were heading to the polls Sunday in a tight presidential election, with a conservative Christian candidate in the lead but not expected to get enough votes to avoid a second round. An opinion poll published four days earlier gave Fabricio Alvarado, a 43-year-old journalist and the only lawmaker from the evangelical National Restoration party, a predicted 16.9 per cent of the vote. In second place was lawyer and wealthy entrepreneur Antonio Alvarez Desanti, who defines himself as a Social Democrat, with 12.4 per cent. Other front runners among the 13 candidates include Carlos Alvarado from outgoing President Luis Guillermo Solis' centrist Citizens' Action party and conservative former justice minister Juan Diego Castro. Solis, whose 2014 victory ended the Central American country's decades-long de-facto two-party system, is barred by the constitution from seeking a second consecutive term.
