Preliminary election results in Costa Rica's presidential election indicate ruling party candidate Abel Pacheco holds a substantial lead in the three-way race.

With more than half of the ballots counted, Mr. Pacheco, the Social Christian Unity Party candidate has about 39 percent of the votes, close to the 40 percent he needs to avoid a runoff.

The results indicate that opposition National Liberation Party candidate Rolando Araya received 30 percent of the votes, while Otton Solis of the Citizens' Action Party got 27 points.

If no candidate wins Sunday's election outright, a runoff between the top two vote-getters will be held on April 7.

The winner of the presidential vote will succeed Miguel Angel Rodriguez, who is constitutionally limited to one term.

Voters also elected 57 lawmakers and officials for more than 500 local positions. Two-point-three million people were eligible to cast ballots.

Several hundred international observers were on hand to monitor Sunday's election. There were no reports of voting irregularities in the Central American nation, located between Nicaragua and Panama.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters, AP, AFP and DPA.

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