QUITO, Feb 8 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Progressive candidate, Andres Arauz and indigenous leader, Yaku Perez, are leading Ecuador’s presidential election, the official quick count released by the National Electoral Council (CNE) showed late Sunday.
The results were announced by Diana Atamaint, the president of the CNE, four hours after the voting ended in the country.
The CNE’s quick count showed Arauz of the Union for Hope Alliance had won 31.5 percent of the votes, and Perez representing the Pachakutik Plurinational Unity Movement had won 20.04 percent of the votes.
Atamaint said the results were from a sample of 2,193 records, equivalent to 90.4 percent of the total 2,425 records selected for the quick count.
If these preliminary results are confirmed, Arauz and Perez will go on to a second round of presidential election scheduled for April 11.
Former banker and conservative candidate Guillermo Lasso, who is participating for the third time, ranked the third with 19.97 percent of the votes, according to the official quick count.
There could be a technical tie between Perez and Lasso, so it is necessary to wait for the official results of the vote count, according to electoral experts.
Lasso said he would ignore the results of the quick count, as it does not reflect 100 percent of the votes. He said that he would wait for the official results, believing he will pass to the second round.
“They have confused people with the quick count, which leads to confusion and error,” Lasso said after the results of the quick count were released.
The CNE began the official vote count Sunday night.
A total of 16 candidates participated in the presidential election, a record for the country.
