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News > Latin America

Lenin Again Wins Ecuador's Presidential Race After Recount

  • The recount is observed by electoral council members, delegates from political parties and international observers.

    The recount is observed by electoral council members, delegates from political parties and international observers. | Photo: teleSUR

Published 18 April 2017
Opinion

Despite the opposition alleging fraud in the presidential elections, they didn't bother to send any delegates to observe the recount process.

Ecuador's National Electoral Council President Juan Pablo Pozo reported that Tuesday's recount of the ballots that had inconsistencies during the April 2 presidential run-off election was completed, with Alianza Pais candidate Lenin Moreno again winning the vote.

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Ecuador Election Recount: Lasso Loses 100 Votes, Moreno up 143

The result of the recount culminated with more votes for leftist Moreno, while the right-wing candidate Guillermo Lasso, of the CREO-SUMA coalition, obtained fewer votes. Moreno obtained 51.15 percent of the votes on April 2, but in today's recounted got 51.16 percent. Lasso went from 48.85 percent to 48.84 percent.

Denouncing opposition claims of fraud, Pozo said the recount was historic and fully transparent. The head of the CNE also said that the recount was "100 percent of ballot objections. There is no random and proportional count here. This is the count of the ballots that the political organizations presented."

The recount, which took place at the Rumiñahui General Coliseum in the capital of Quito, had more than three thousand people and 24 delegates from international observation missions.

A total of 3,865 ballots were reviewed, which represent 1,275,450 votes, or 11.2 percent of the total votes across the country and abroad. These are the ballots that both Alianza Pais and CREO-SUMA presented documentation and legal complaints against.

CNE officials completed the scanning process of the recounted ballots and added the reports to the final tally. The process was open to the public and included the presence of political parties, military and police and international observers.

The CNE counted vote by vote if the ballots had inconsistencies, meaning the sum did not add up to the official transcripts, or that a member of the voting table didn't sign the final report.

Paul Salazar, CNE member, said the presence of local and international observers from the Association of World Election Bodies, the Organization of American States and the Union of South American Nations, as well as political parties ensure the process was transparent.

RELATED:
Ecuador’s Moreno Backs Vote Recount to Disprove Election Fraud

"We have moved forward on all the appeals presented by both parties, in a transparent way," Salazar told teleSUR. "We want political parties to be certain and confident that above all the will of the Ecuadoreans expressed in their vote is respected," said Salazar.

Despite the opposition requesting the recount after losing the elections, they failed to send any delegates to observe the process. A group of around 20 supporters of candidate Guillermo Lasso were outside the coliseum shouting and blocking traffic.

"I know they're outside, unfortunately, they should be here, seeing that the process has been going on without any problems," said Salazar.

Banker-turned-candidate Lasso also alleged there was electronic fraud during the elections and that he wouldn't accept the results, despite the rest of Latin America, as well as the OAS, already having done so. Lasso says he wants all the votes from the election, even those without inconsistencies, to be counted again.

Ricardo Valverde, an observer from the Inter-American Union of Electoral Bodies, said the observers had the opportunity to be in contact with all political parties and ensure their technical work.

"We have been in all the phases, since the first round and we reiterate the certainty that the actions of the National Electoral Council have been adequate," Valverde told teleSUR.

RELATED:
Ecuador Recounts 1.2M More Votes

Pozo added during the opening ceremony of the recount process, "No one can be misinformed, we have nothing to hide here. This false myth of fraud is an attack against the dignity of a whole country."

Pozo said last week that CREO had presented an appeal to nullify the elections and even wanted the recount process to be suspended.

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