MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) – Voters in small South American nation of Uruguay headed to the polls to elect a new president on Sunday in a race between two moderates defying regional trends of bitter division and democratic erosion.

The contest between Uruguay’s current conservative coalition and its challenger, a center-left alliance, began with about 2.7 million eligible voters also voting for Parliament and a controversial referendum on overhauling the social security system.

The pension vote — which would widen the fiscal deficit in one of Latin America’s richest countries — has consumed more media attention in recent weeks than other top campaign issues such as child poverty, education and security.

With the candidates in broad agreement on many issues, no one expects the outcome of the presidential vote to herald a drastic change in this nation of 3.4 million people, long considered a model of democracy and a bastion of stability in the region.

“In a way, Uruguay was boring, but boring in that sense is very good,” said Juan Cruz Díaz, a political analyst who runs the Cefeidas consultancy group in Buenos Aires. “We’ve seen so many dramatic changes in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and suddenly we’re facing an election in Uruguay where there’s a general consensus, there’s stability.”

While in neighboring Brazil and Argentina, voters have recently expressed anger at the status quo, Uruguay’s electorate remains largely satisfied with pro-business government policies and steady economic growth. The current centre-right president, Luis Lacalle Pouenjoys a 50% approval rating.

Presidential campaigns have been conducted without the vitriol or personal attacks seen elsewhere, such as the United States, Argentina or Brazil.

As the constitutional mandate prevents Lacalle Pou from running for a second consecutive term, the ruling party’s candidate is Álvaro Delgado, 55, a congressman and former chief of staff to Lacalle Pou, who began his career as a veterinarian.

“This government leaves us with a very solid first level to continue building the future,” Delgado said at his closing campaign rally.

His main challenger is Yamandú Orsi, 57, a centre-left former mayor and history teacher with humble roots in the Frente Amplio (or Broad Front) coalition, which governed for 15 years before Lacalle Pou’s 2019 victory .

From 2005-2020, the Frente Amplio oversaw progressive laws such as the legalization of same-sex marriage. Uruguay became the first country to legalize recreational cannabis and developed one of the greenest grids in the world, powered by 98% renewable energy.

The latest polls show Orsi comfortably ahead at 44%, but not outright winning, which would send the country into a runoff on November 24.

Orsi had the support of popular former president José “Pepe” Mujica, the eccentric ex-guerrilla who helped lead Uruguay’s transformation into the continent’s most socially liberal country during his 2010-2015 presidency.

Now 89, Mujica is battling esophageal cancer but still managed to cast her vote in Montevideo, the capital, on Sunday. Arriving to vote in a wheelchair, he was quickly mobbed by reporters.

“We have to support democracy, not because it’s perfect, but because people haven’t invented anything better yet,” he told reporters after leaving the polling station.

Like Mujica, who lives in a modest farm on the outskirts of Montevideo, Orsi says he would not live in the presidential palace if elected.

In a distant third is Andrés Ojeda, 40, a muscular, media-savvy lawyer who has tried to energize apathetic young voters with flashy campaign videos showing him lifting weights at the gym and describing he is a classic Capricorn.

“I want to be the candidate who inspires and captivates people,” he said at his campaign event on Thursday.

He told The Associated Press that his unconventional style draws inspiration from other “charismatic leaders of the new politics” in Latin America who use social media to rally fans, such as El Salvadoran populist Nayib Bukele and Argentine radical libertarian Javier Milei. But he supports the ruling coalition and promises no radical change.

The election contest focused largely on the increase in homicides and robberies, with the ruling coalition advocating a tough approach against crime and the liberal coalition vowing to increase the role of the state in security matters.

Voters are also concerned about one in five Uruguayan children living in poverty and low high school graduation rates.

But the overlap between party platforms has left much of the Uruguayan electorate indifferent.

“It was a presidential campaign away from the people that did not reach the levels of engagement that Uruguay has historically had,” said Montevideo-based political analyst Julián Kanarek.

Perhaps more pressing than the presidential race is the constitutional referendum that would overhaul Uruguay’s social security system.

If approved by more than 50 percent of voters, the $23 billion scheme backed by the country’s powerful left-wing unions would lower the retirement age, boost payouts and transfer Uruguayans’ privately managed savings into a government-run trust .

Both leading candidates have spoken out against the proposal, which has already sent tremors through global markets. Shrugging off the fiscal consequences, supporters say it would redistribute Uruguay’s resources more equitably.

There is also a referendum to allow police night raids on homes.

Uruguayans are not required to vote in plebiscites, but voting in congressional and presidential races is mandatory.

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DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina