San José, February 3 (RHC) -- None of the 13 candidates in Costa Rica's presidential race succeeded in winning the required number of votes for an outright victory, leaving the two leading players facing a run-off next month, the electoral authority said late Sunday.

According to preliminary results published by the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal, no candidate gathered more than 40 percent of the vote in the first round.
Over three million Costa Ricans were registered to cast their ballots in the elections on Sunday to choose a new president to serve a four-year term, two vice presidents, and 57 deputies to the Legislative Assembly.

Some 6,600 polling stations were opened across the country. Full count for the elections has not yet been completed, according to the electoral authority.

The latest poll by the University of Costa Rica (UCR) showed the two front-runners in the presidential race, ruling National Liberation Party's (PLN) Johnny Araya and center-left Broad Front's (FA) Jose Maria Villalta are likely to make a runoff slated for April 6th.