By Lucinda Elliott MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) -Voters in South America's laid-back Uruguay, known for its beaches, legalized marijuana and stability, headed to the polls on Sunday for a second-round presidential race between moderates that closes out a bumper year for global elections.

Uruguay is on the cusp of becoming the latest country to oust an incumbent party this year, with violent crime and an economic recovery that has left many behind bolstering the hopes of the leftist opposition candidate in Sunday’s presidential election.

Uruguayans are returning to the polls for a second round of voting to choose their next president. In Sunday's election, the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month’s vote.

Voters in South America's laid-backUruguay, known for its beaches, legalized marijuana and stability, will head to the polls on Sunday in a second-round presidential race between moderates that closes out a bumper year of elections.

Uruguayans will be choosing between two centrist candidates for their next president on Sunday, but the closely fought run-off could be decided by voters who went for an anti-vax radical and other fringe candidates in the first round.

Uruguayans head to the polls for presidential runoff with centre-left candidate in lead Watch more on Independent TV: The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking newsbrand, providing global news,

Uruguayan Alvaro Delgado, a 55-year-old former senator and the conservative ruling coalition's continuity candidate for president, is counting on support from an eliminated ally to triumph against the center-left frontrunner in Sunday's run-off election.

Uruguay is undergoing political dynamics similar to those at work in the rest of Latin America: governments swing from one party to another and there has been a general and increasingly polarized shift to the right .