Two men with the same surname but different political platforms are the presidential choices for Costa Rican voters. An ultra-conservative preacher and a former labor minister see gay rights very differently.
Opinion polls going into Sunday's presidential polls showed the two candidates in a virtual tie, with the only certainty that the winner will be named "Alvarado."
However, the two men are not related.
Carlos Alvarado of the incumbent Citizens' Action Party stood on a platform of reining in the deficit, improving education and maintaining ecological standards. He was labor minister in the former government, in power since 2014.
Fabricio Alvarado is an evangelical pastor who heads the National Restoration Party a party name that many construe as a loaded term for turning back the clock on equal rights.
He came from nowhere in the first round of the presidential election held in February to head a field of 13 candidates with 25 percent of the vote, over Carlos Alvarado's 22 percent.
Neither of the candidates came close to the 40 percent of the votes needed to claim an outright victory.
The two men took opposing stands on a January ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) that had urged the recognition of same-sex marriages.
The 43-year-old Fabricio Alvarado slammed the IACHR ruling, calling it an affront to traditional values. He threatened to remove the country from the court's jurisdiction.
"We're united... in defending life and family, but also to defend ethics and transparency and the battle against corruption," Fabricio Alvarado said in an video appeal to Catholics on Saturday.
Catholics account for more than 60 percent of the population while evangelical protestants represent about 20 percent.
Fabricio Alvarado is a former TV newscaster, a gospel singer and a member of the archly-conservative Protestant Pentacostal movement.
He was endorsed last week by the candidate who came third with 18 percent in the preliminary round, Antonio Alvarez.
The 38-year-old Carlos Alvarado was labor and social security minister in the last government and is a political scientist and writer. He studied literature at college where he also sang in a rock and roll band.
Costa Rica has 3.3 million eligible voters. Polls close at 6 p.m. local time on Sunday (Monday 0100 UTC). The results should be known late Sunday or early Monday. The new president will be in power for a four-year term.
