“Just as I gave power back to the people, today the people have the power to elect the new authorities.” Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso said he prefers a first-round election to succeed him in power by casting his ballot Guayaquil, the country’s most economically important city, although it is not the capital. “I want the people’s decision to be known today and respected in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility to address the issues most lamented by the Ecuadorian people,” added the President.
After a little over two years Lasso will have to hand over power in a few months to whoever will eventually succeed him in order to complete the term he was elected to. In May, the President decreed “cross death” by dissolving Congress and calling early general elections.
During the day this Sunday The challenge was the automated voting, after reports of telematics problems when voting abroad. From Peru, for example, Fabián Salazar complained that the connections were broken.
The National Electoral Council admitted some “unique” problems and pointed out that they were due to high demand from voters abroad. The President of the CNE, Diana Atamaint, stated: “We guarantee that these inconveniences will be overcome in a special way and we guarantee that at the end of the day all Ecuadorians will be able to exercise their right to vote.” He claimed that the technicians are concerned about the recovery of all channels took care of.
The Organization of American States (OAS) Election Observation Mission based in Ecuador reported late in the afternoon. Complete normality in personal voting. The group’s leader, Panamanian Isabel de Saint Malo, said in Quito that she had signaled that she was “satisfied” with the reports from her monitors stationed in 20 provinces of the country.
The former vice president and foreign minister of Panama stressed that even in the country’s most violent and conflict-ridden areas, polling stations were set up normally and people voted early. De Saint Malo, who also headed the OAS election observation mission for the 2021 general election in Ecuador, acknowledged this The increase in violence and political crimes shaped this call.
The institution reported that Election Day started with the installation of all 40,714 polling centers without any problems. In the first two hours of the trial, the CNE indicated that 20% of the registered population had already taken part.
On the other hand, the Ecuadorian National Police reported that a vote took place that day managed to capture more than 300 people in the midst of special operations which began on Friday the 18th.
Police identified the most conflict-ridden areas of Ecuador, where surveillance would be more complex. There, the authorities confirmed, special measures and security strategies would be implemented. The provinces with the highest risk index for outbreaks of violenceaccording to the institutions, are Manabi, Esmeraldas, Los Rios, Guayas, Santa Elena, Santo Domingo and Pichincha. No more incidents were reported after midday on Sunday.
However, the presidential candidates focused their messages on the election’s response to the violence unleashed in the country, and even Atamaint called for voting to condemn them. “May exercising our rights be our best defense against those who seek to rob us of peace and sow fear through violence. May everyone’s voice be a symbol of peaceful coexistence, progress and rationality,” he wished.
Christian Zurita, the candidate of the Construye movement that replaced the assassinated Fernando Villavicencio, voted wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet surrounded by a major security operation in Quito. When he was at the polling station, he wore a protective shield.
He could barely say, “We’re up to the task.” We will face with determination what it means to move this country forward” he said before being removed from the spot.
the indigenous Yaku PerezFor his part, he stressed the importance of the referendum on the extraction of hydrocarbons from an important deposit in the Amazon and the ban on mining in the Chocó Andino area, classified by Unesco as a Biosphere Reserve. “I don’t have a bulletproof vest, I have an anti-corruption and anti-crime vest,” he said after the vote.
The candidate in turn called “Rambo”, Jan Topicvoted in Guayaquil and affirmed that the most important thing will be “Eliminate Violence”. Candidate Luisa González of the Citizens’ Revolution led by exiled former President Rafael Correa was confident of emerging victorious in the first round.
Meanwhile, the elections took place in Ecuador an extensive national security operation, with checks at polling station doors, fenced-off streets and street vendors far from the sites. Uniformed soldiers tried to prevent crowds in the fences and urged those who had already voted to leave quickly.
