Costa Rica's general elections kicked off Sunday as voters began casting their ballots at 6,617 polling stations across the Central American country.

Polling stations opened at 6:00 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) and close at 6:00 p.m. (2400 GMT) on Sunday. Results are expected from 8:00 p.m. (0200 GMT Monday) on Sunday evening.

Some 2.8 million voters will choose a new president who will serve a four-year term, two vice presidents, 57 parliamentarians and 495 local deputies.

Under the country's constitution, a presidential candidate is required to gain at least 40 percent of the popular vote to win outright, or the top two candidates will compete in a runoff slated for April 4.

Among the nine candidates vying for the presidency, front-runners include Laura Chinchilla from the National Liberation Party (PLN), Otto Guevara Guth of the Libertarian Movement Party (ML) and Otton Solis of the Citizen Action Party (PAC).

Some 12,200 policemen have been deployed across the country to maintain security during the elections.