Costa Rica's election tribunal has ordered a manual recount of presidential polls after the first round of voting left the main contenders facing a run-off.
Election chief Luis Antonio Sobrado said results had been recorded from 6,000 of 6,515 polling stations across the country.
Latest numbers from Sunday's polls saw Jonny Araya of the ruling right-wing National Liberation Party with 29.6 per cent of the vote, just behind the 30.9 per cent of centrist rival Luis Guillermo Solis.
Under Costa Rican election rules, the narrow gap between the two meant a mandatory manual recount, Sobrado said.
Once the recount takes place, a presidential run-off will likely be held on April 6, he added.
