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Quito, Ecuador | Xinhua | Preliminary results showed that Luisa Gonzalez of Citizen Revolution Movement and former legislator Daniel Noboa are expected to beat out six other candidates in the first round of Ecuador’s presidential elections and then face off in the runoff, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said Sunday.
With over 60 percent of ballot boxes counted as of 9:45 p.m. local time (0245 GMT on Monday), Gonzalez has tallied around 33 percent support, followed by Noboa of the National Democratic Alliance, who has obtained over 24 percent of the vote, according to the CNE figures.
Journalist Christian Zurita was in third place with 16 percent.
“The results already mark a trend that the elections will go to the second round,” head of the CNE Diana Atamaint told the country on television, saying the voting was a “calm, safe and respectful process of the will of the Ecuadorian people” and the counting process was transparent.
The second round of the elections is scheduled for Oct. 15.
The winner will succeed Guillermo Lasso, a former banker who cut short his four-year term (2021-2025) in office following a legislative attempt to impeach him.
Lasso headed off the trial by dissolving the National Assembly and calling for early elections. ■
