Noboa gives a surprise, he would go to the runoff in Ecuador against González with 20% of votes counted

Luisa Gonzalez and Daniel Noboa would go to the ballot for the presidency of Ecuadoraccording to official data released on Sunday by the National Electoral Council (CNE) with almost 20% of the votes counted.

Millions of Ecuadorians voted in presidential and legislative elections on Sunday after a campaign marred by bloodshed, amid voters’ hopes that the winner would lift the country out of the spiral of violence and economic troubles in which it finds itself.

González, a protégé of former President Rafael Correa, led the vote with 32.9% of the votes, followed by former legislator Noboa with 24.4%. Christian Zurita, who took the place of the assassinated Fernando Villavicencio, appears third with 16.38% of the preferences.

If there is a ballot, it would take place on October 15.

González’s supporters, gathered in southern Quito, where the candidate was expected to speak later, said they wanted a return to Correa’s social programs and better job opportunities.

“I feel as a woman that she is going to fight for the town,” said Fany Tarqui, 52, who brought her two daughters and her dog to the demonstration. “We want tranquility and sources of work”

Jan Topic, who says he was a member of the French Foreign Legion, appeared fourth with 14.62% of the vote.

González and Noboa have joined their competitors in pledging to fight a sharp rise in crime, which the current government blames on drug gangs, and improve the struggling economy, whose problems have led to rising unemployment and migration. .

Security has been at the center of the race since the murder of anti-corruption journalist and former lawmaker Fernando Villavicencio, who was gunned down as he was leaving a campaign rally in Quito earlier this month.

Other candidates have reported attacks against them, although in several cases police have said the violence was not directed at the applicants. Voters in Quito and Guayaquil said that security was their main demand for the new president.

“The first thing is security and then the economy and employment. Without security there is no investment, there are no companies, there is no employment,” said public employee Patricia Simbaña, who voted at a Quito school, where Zurita cast her ballot amid an avalanche of journalists and heavily armed soldiers.

CYBER ATTACKS

A web page enabled for some Ecuadorians residing abroad to cast their vote suffered cyber attacks, said the CNE president, who stressed that the integrity of the process was not affected.

Attacks on the website for overseas voters were launched from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia and China, CNE chair Diana Atamaint said.

“The telematic voting platform suffered cyber attacks that affected the fluidity to access the vote,” said Atamaint. “We also clarify and emphasize that the consigned votes have not been violated.”

More than 82% of those who are required to vote did, Atamaint said. Voting is mandatory for those between the ages of 18 and 65.

González has promised to use $2.5 billion from international reserves to shore up the economy if elected and to bring back the social programs implemented by Correa, who has been convicted of corruption, during his decade in power.

Noboa, the son of prominent banana businessman and former candidate Álvaro Noboa, apparently gained support after performing well in the campaign’s only televised debate. He was a legislator until current President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly and called early elections.

Noboa, the youngest of the candidates at 35, has focused his campaign on job creation, tax incentives for new businesses and jail terms for serious tax evaders.

On Sunday Ecuadorians also voted to elect the 137 members of the National Assembly and will rule in a plebiscite to suspend oil exploitation in the Yasuní Amazon reserve and another only in Quito to prohibit mining activity in a forest near the city .

Authorities have said about 100,000 police and military personnel guarded polling places. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia. Additional reporting by Yury García in Quito. Editing by Javier Leira).

Prepared with information from Reuters