Costa Ricans hit the polls in new presidential elections
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The polls are open to 3.5 million eligible voters in Costa Rica.
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"The vote is secret" is written on the box, where a Costa Rican citizen is casting his vote.
On Sunday, Costa Ricans are called on to cast their vote at the polls, choosing among 25 presidential candidates, however, there is no clear inclination towards a candidate.
In a country holding a population of 5 million people, 3.5 million are eligible voters.
The elections launched at 6:00 am in the morning and are to remain 12 hours.
Costa Rica is experiencing a growing economic crisis. Many citizens perceive the elections as a form of problem-solving power, as they will be anticipating the results three hours after the polls close.
"Voting is the most important weapon we have to solve problems," said 35-year-old Francisco Zeledon, a citizen standing first in line at his polling station. "We have to solve poverty and create jobs for people."
Under Costa Rica's current president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, the economy is in a ditch; his party, the Citizens' Action Party, could be seeing a loss in popularity in the coming results in light of the anti-government sentiment in the air.
"The ruling party is completely weakened and has no chance" after two successive terms in office, said Eugenia Aguirre, a political analyst. "The presidential unpopularity figure of 72 percent is the highest since the number was first recorded in 2013."
The current situation could entail a return for the National Liberation Party (PLN) and the right-wing Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), traditional parties in Costa Rica.
The former president of Costa Rica (who is a member of the PLN) is among those running again for the presidency, enjoying 17% support. PUSC's candidate, Lineth Saborio, got just under 13% support.
"This country has a million and a half people living in poverty and half a million in extreme poverty," said Jose Maria Figueres, former president of Costa Rica, on Sunday. "There is a housing shortage of 160,000 homes. We have never experienced these things in this magnitude."
Figueres hopes to accumulate 40% of required votes to avoid a second-round - however, presidents in Costa Rica are not able to seek immediate re-election.
