(EFE).- Nicaraguans are heading to the polls Sunday for general elections, with six candidates, including incumbent Daniel Ortega, vying to be the Central American nation’s president.

Some 4.34 million people are eligible to cast ballots in the general elections, choosing a new president, vice president, 90 National Assembly members and 20 Central American Parliament, or Parlacen, members.

The 70-year-old Ortega is expected to win re-election, with an M&R Consultores poll released last week showing him with 69.8 percent support among likely voters.

Maximino Rodriguez, a former guerrilla who is running as the candidate of the opposition Constitutionalist Liberal Party, or PLC, had the support of 8.1 percent of likely voters in the poll.

Ortega, leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, or FSLN, is seeking his fourth term overall as Nicaragua’s president and third consecutive term in office.

Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, is one of the candidates running for vice president.

The elections “are taking place normally across the national territory,” army chief Gen. Julio Cesar Aviles told reporters.

Election officials said voter turnout was steady, but they did not provide specific figures.

Some problems with voters’ understanding of ballots have been reported, election officials said.

“There has been slight confusion in some cities in terms of the elections ballot, but it’s something that happens in every election,” national elections commission chairman Roberto Rivas told the press.

The election is being held amid criticism from the opposition in the wake of officials’ decision to ban observers and keep the main opposition party from competing for the presidency.

The other candidates running for president are evangelical minister Saturnino Cerrato, of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, or ALN; rancher Jose del Carmen Alvarado, of the Independent Liberal Party, or PLI; attorney Erick Cabezas, of the Conservative Party, or PC; and Carlos Canales, of the Alliance for the Republic, or APRE.

The government has deployed 13,000 National Police officers and 10,000 soldiers to provide security during the general elections. EFE