Uruguay’s presidential election will go to a runoff next month after neither candidate reached the absolute majority needed to win, while a contentious overhaul of the country’s pension system failed to pass.

Yamandú Orsi, a center-left former mayor, finished first on Sunday but fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid another round of voting.

STORY: Uruguay seems poised for a run-off election next month. That's after a presidential vote on Sunday where neither candidate secured the majority needed for a first-round win. Results showed that center-left candiate Yamandu Orsi of the Broad Front party secured over 41% with 60% of votes tallied,

National Party

Crime, child poverty and an aging population are top issues as voters in one of Latin America’s most stable democracies head to the polls on Sunday.

The leading contenders in Uruguay's presidential election on Sunday said voters in the small South American nation had sent the race to a runoff in November.

Voters in the small South American nation of Uruguay cast ballots Sunday in a presidential election in which a center-left rural mayor pulled ahead of the conservative incumbent-party candidate and pushed the race into a second round of voting.