Ecuador’s voting day came to a close on Sunday afternoon, marking the beginning of the scrutiny process to determine the country’s next president. The country is currently plagued by drug trafficking violence, and Ecuadorians hope that the new government can revitalize a nation in economic crisis. The first poll conducted by Boca de Urnico predicted that current President Daniel Noboa would obtain more than 50% of the votes, while his rival Luisa González would secure 42%.
Many Ecuadorians, like Richard Calle, a 44-year-old mechanical engineer in Quito, are eager for change. “Safety, health, education, everything is worse,” Calle said. The campaigns were marked by strong security measures and proposals focused on curbing violence, which has resulted in 38 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. The borders were closed until Monday, and some 100,000 members of the public force monitored the elections.
Candidate González, who is affiliated with the former socialist president Rafael Correa, reported receiving threats and expressed concerns about her safety. “I have had threats (…) There are intelligence reports that say there are risks, that they want to attack my life,” she told AFP. During the election day, a policeman died and another was injured in an “armed attack” in the port city of Guayaquil, according to the police.
Ecuadorians cast their mandatory votes to elect a president and vice president, 151 assembly members, and five Andean parliamentarians. The National Electoral Council (CNE) began the slow scrutiny process towards 5:00 p.m. (22h00 GMT), but there is no official information about the time it will take to publicize the first results. The day “has been developed with absolute normality, prevailing order, security and the peaceful environment” and an 83.38% participation, said Diana Atamait, president of the CNE.
Noboa vs González
The two candidates, Noboa and González, voted early in their coastal bastions. Noboa, 37, and González, 47, are facing off in a new electoral duel, with González seeking revenge and Noboa aiming for re-election. The candidates previously faced each other in the 2023 elections, in which Noboa became one of the youngest presidents in the world. This time, González aspires to be the first elected president in the country’s history.
Noboa, heir to a banana magnate, won the election in 2023 despite his limited political experience. He has become popular as a ruler with an iron hand against the narco, and is also known for being an athlete, musician, and loving family man. “Ecuador has already changed and wants to continue changing, wants to consolidate the victory,” said the president. His opponent, González, is a single, tattooed, and Christian mother with an agenda that promises more “social justice” security and respect for human rights. “They are fear, we hope,” said the lawyer while voting.
A ballot on April 13 is planned if none of the candidates manages to obtain at least 40% of votes and a ten-point difference over the closest opponent. Experts question the scarce projects of the candidates to face the worst crisis in half a century, with plagued campaigns of misinformation in social networks and the increasingly sophisticated use of artificial intelligence.
“Memecracia”
Political analyst Leonardo Laso describes the current situation as a “memecracia,” where people are disconnected from politics due to the abundance of misinformation. Noboa’s brief but vertiginous mandate has been marked by power cuts, diplomatic disputes, and complaints of public force abuses in his offensive against crime. Four children were killed and calcined in Guayaquil, in a case that implicates 16 military personnel. Ecuadorians resent the ravages of a indebted state with a poverty rate of 28% and concentrated on financing the expensive war against the narco. According to Laso, these spectacular operations project an image of the country that frightens “any possibility of investment” and generates “an adverse climate to employment generation.”
