Voters began going to the polls Sunday in presidential and parliamentary elections in Costa Rica, with latest polls indicating the country's next president could be a woman, dpa reported.

Altogether, nine candidates were posted for the presidency, but opinion polls gave realistic chances to just three, led by Laura Chinchilla, 50.

She is the nominee of outgoing President Oscar Arias' social- democratic National Liberation Party (PLN) and is the ruling party's next in line after Arias.

The other main contenders were lawyer Otto Guevara, 49, of the centre-right Libertarian Movement Party (PML) and economist Otton Solis, 55, of the Citizen Action Party (PAC).

Arias, who was president from 1986-90 and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as a mediator in the Central American civil wars of the 1980s, is prohibited by Costa Rican law from seeking a consecutive presidential term.

   In addition to choosing a new president, who takes office on May 8, Costa Rican voters were also being called to elect a new parliament as well as 81 mayors.

   With a population of 4.5 million, Costa Rica's economy rests on the pillars of agricultural exports, particularly pineapples and bananas, and a tourism sector that has expanded greatly in the last two decades.

Election results were first expected on Monday. The new president is to be inaugurated on May 8.