Ecuadorians Complained of Irregularities in Elections

The Latin American and Caribbean Election Observers Network Sunday denounced the Ecuadorean authorities' lack of foresight and planning for the voting process the country is undergoing this February 7.

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"The election day has passed amid agglomerations and lack of control,"  the organization tweeted as it held the National Electoral Council (CNE) responsible for the long lines that many citizens were making outside polling stations.

Videos spread on social networks showed hundreds of voters waiting hours in long lines under the sun and without respecting social distancing.

Sixty-three percent of the nearly 12.7 million citizens summoned to the polls voted before 12h00 local time. The massive turnout and the lack of organization caused the country to report 1,200 agglomerations since the beginning of Election Day.

"In Montecristi city, Manabi Province, dozens of citizens pushed their way into polling stations," Red stated while informing that in that province also a citizen was apprehended with four ballot papers marked in favor of an electoral binomial.

Local outlets reported the incident took place at the Portoviejo National School. Authorities are investigating the origin of these documents.

The Observers Network also criticized the CNE's decision of not allowing citizens to vote after 17h00, despite the long lines that were taking place outside the polling stations. 

Irregularities were also registered in the election process abroad. On Sunday, former president Rafael Correa warned that Ecuador's consul in Brussels evicted that country's migrants who were in line to cast their vote at the embassy.