Above photo: Ecuador’s top electoral body will conduct a partial recount of Sunday’s presidential vote following a request from the two candidates battling for second place. Twitter/@TRTWorldNow.
Arauz, of the Union for Hope (UNES), awaits a rival for the second electoral round scheduled for next April 11.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Ecuador informed this Friday that in 17 of the 24 provinces of the country there will be a partial recount of the votes cast in the presidential elections held last February 7, won by the Correa-backed candidate Andres Arauz.
This Friday, CNE magistrates, in the presence of electoral observers from the Organization of American States (OAS), held a meeting with presidential hopefuls Guillermo Lasso and Yaku Perez, who are in a technical tie for second place in the electoral process.
At the end of the meeting, the CNE issued a statement to inform of the agreements reached, “for the benefit of the country’s democracy and with the purpose of guaranteeing the transparency of the electoral process held last February 7.”
In the province of Guayas, located in the coastal southwest region of the country, there will be a review of 100 percent of the vote, including the minutes with new developments.
In addition, 50 percent of the voting will be reviewed in 16 provinces, stressing that it is an accounting review of votes of the electoral package without statistical significance.
The communiqué pointed out that there will be citizen oversight of the computer system with delegates from the parties.
“Once the review process is finished, the definitive proclamation of the results will be made. The whole process will be transmitted in official channels of the CNE on a continuous basis,” the text indicated.
Andres Arauz, presidential candidate of the opposition alliance Union for Hope (Unes), and who obtained 32.06 percent of the votes cast on February 7, expects a rival for the second round of elections scheduled to be held next April 11.
Lasso, of the Creando Oportunidades (CREO) movement, in alliance with the Social Christian Party, and Yaku Perez, candidate of the indigenous party Pachakutik, are disputing their place in the runoff as they are in a technical tie for second place.
According to the most recent partial count of the electoral records, Lasso appeared with 19.66 percent of the votes cast, while Perez had 19.61 percent.