San Jose (xn) - The general elections in Costa Rica to choose the country's next president concluded as 6,617 voting centers closed gates at 6:00 p.m. local time (2400 GMT) Sunday.

A total of 2,822,492 people were registered for the balloting. Voting began on Sunday at 6:00 a.m. local time (1200 GMT). The number of voters were seen increasing toward the end of the voting day. President of the Supreme Tribunal of Elections, Luis Antonio Sobrado, said that the elections were held "in complete normality" and the first outcomes would be announced at about 8:30 p.m. local time on Sunday (0230 GMT on Monday). Sobrado also said that about 30 percent of the people registered to vote did not show up at voting centers.

Costa Ricans were also voting on Sunday for two vice presidents, 57 parliamentarians and 495 local deputies. Nine candidates were vying for the 2010-2014 presidency. The candidate leading the opinion polls at the time of voting was Laura Chinchilla of the ruling National Liberation Party (PLN) who had 40 percent of support, followed by Otto Guevara of the Libertarian Movement and Otton Solis of the Citizen Action Party.

If Chinchilla, who served as vice president to incumbent President Oscar Arias, won these elections she would become the country's first female president in history. According to the country's constitution, a candidate is required to gain at least 40 percent of the popular votes to win outright, or the two top votes-collecting candidates will have to compete in a runoff slated for April 4th. Some 12,200 police troops were deployed across the country for the security of the elections.