Nicaragua ? Daniel Ortega, the former Marxist revolutionary who last came to power at the head of a guerrilla force in 1979, remained locked in a close race to regain the presidency Sunday night as election officials predicted it would take them until today to finish tallying the results.

Apart from concerns about delayed openings and long lines at many precincts, the consensus among election observers was that turnout among Nicaragua’s more than 3 million registered voters was high and that balloting proceeded smoothly.

Head of the Soviet-backed government of the Sandinista National Liberation Front from 1979 to 1990, Ortega was the bane of the Reagan administration, which trained and funded insurgents known as contras in a failed effort to topple his government.

Despite subsequently moderating his image by embracing Catholicism and pronouncing himself a supporter of a market economy, Ortega has twice failed to win back the presidency since voters swept him from office in 1990.