Ecuador: Polls Close In Runoff Presidential Elections

After a ten-hour election day this Sunday that passed normally and without serious incidents, polling centers closed at 17:00 local time.

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Ecuador: Presidential Candidate Luisa Gonzalez Casts Her Vote

The National Electoral Council (CNE) reported that the day went normally with a participation of 82.33% of the population. 

After the closing of the electoral precincts, the counting of votes has begun, and the first results, so far, are that Daniel Noboa is in the lead, leaving Luisa Gonzalez behind.

According to CNE President Diana Atamaint, these results are unofficial. The first official results are expected around 18:30 and 19:00 local time, as foreseen by the CNE.

Candidates vote with bullet-proof vests, under heavy security operation

Luisa Gonzalez, candidate of the Citizen Revolution Movement (MRC), led by former president Rafael Correa, voted around 8:00 am. She arrived in the capital Quito to await the results after voting in Canuto, the rural town in the coastal province of Manabí where she grew up. 

"We have all the faith, the strength, the hope that Ecuador is going to make a turn towards dignity, towards a homeland of rights," said the candidate after voting.

For his part, Noboa, of the National Democratic Action (ADN) alliance, voted in Olon, a seaside resort in the coastal province of Santa Elena where he has a property and will also await the progress of the voting. 

"Today we have celebrated a democratic day, we must respect the will of the people, people want progress and young people want hope," said Noboa. 

The CNE informed that there were some specific cases that sought to hinder the electoral process that develops in the midst of a wave of violence that plagues Ecuador. 

The National Police indicated that up to 14:00 four people were arrested for electoral infractions and 304 citations were issued for violating the dry law, showing up to vote while intoxicated, making electoral propaganda when it was already prohibited and disturbing the development of the elections.

Meanwhile, in ordinary operations during the electoral process, 660 people were arrested, 65 firearms and 70 bladed weapons were seized, and 95 vehicles and 368 motorcycles were seized.