Presidential elections in Ecuador: Electoral Council to conduct partial vote recount

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ecuador’s National Electoral Council (CNE) announced on Friday, February 12th, that it will conduct a partial vote recount, after candidate Guillermo Lasso accepted his opponent Yaku Perez’s request in this regard.

“I am the first interested in transparency, the welfare of Ecuador comes before partisan and personal interests,” said Lasso in a meeting with Pérez at the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Quito, under OAS Observation Mission supervision.

After almost 6 hours of negotiation with the candidates, the CNE announced that 100% of the ballots will be recounted in Guayas and 50% in 16 other provinces.

Headed by CNE president Diana Atamaint and her four councilors, the meeting, broadcast on TV and online, was introduced by Pérez alerting to the ‘historic dispossession’ of Ecuadorians.

“The history of Ecuador is marked by dispossession,” said the indigenous presidential candidate, referring to the colonial history and the extractive industry, assuring “that the dispossession has not ended’ and ‘they are taking everything from us.”

“The dispossession continues, today it is of votes, the dispossession of a whole dream, of a whole project, of true hope,” he said, accusing a new Nostradamus who knew the results in advance and who is not in Ecuador, in clear reference to ex-president Rafael Correa (2007-2017).

Pérez urged that, given the multiple inconsistencies shown in all provinces, a general recount be made.

For his part, Lasso, who spoke next, said he had picked up the gauntlet faithful and consistent with his absolute democratic spirit.

According to the latest official data from the CNE platform, with 99.65% of the votes counted from last Sunday’s general elections, the Correista candidate Andres Arauz, leads the vote with 32.70%, followed by Lasso with 19.74%, and Perez with 19.38%.

The recount will determine which of the two candidates finished second in the first round of voting, and is therefore entitled to contest the second round with Arauz in April.

Lasso, who came from Guayaquil yesterday morning for the meeting, endorsed the proposal to recount the votes provided it is conducted within the law.

“May the vote recount be conducted within the law, because if we fail taking the law as a basis, we would be abandoning the rule of law, and that is the most dangerous path towards causing chaos and disorder, something far from the goal of the Ecuadorian people.”

After the recount was announced, he stated: “The important thing is that the Ecuadorian people may live in tranquility, in peace, and that the electoral process, which from my side will be continued immediately with the second round campaign, should be a process over which there are no doubts.”

The law provides that the electoral results must be submitted to the people 10 days after the elections, which means next Wednesday.

This would complicate the conduction of a complete scrutiny as requested by Perez, therefore, the review process may only be conducted in seven provinces.