SAN JOSE, Feb 2 (Reuters) – 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.

The vote comes amidst a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic and high unemployment among the 5 million people in the Central American nation long praised for its democratic stability in a volatile region.

None of the 25 presidential candidates – the largest number in the country’s history – are expected to win more than 17% of the vote, according to a survey published on Tuesday by the Center for Research and Political Studies (CIEP) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR).

The study also found that over 31% of voters were undecided less than a week before the elections.

The poll shows PLN candidate and former President Jose Maria Figueres, who led the country in the 1990s, ahead of the pack with 17%, followed by former Conservative Vice President Lineth Saborío with 12.9%, and evangelical preacher Fabricio Alvarado on 10.3%.

The Eurasia Group, a consulting firm, predicted that Saborío would be a strong candidate in the second round, while Figueres might be disadvantaged by his party’s alleged ties to corruption.

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