MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Conservative banker will dispute the presidential runoff in Ecuador; protests expected in Quito

Guillermo Lasso will dispute the presidential runoff next April after coming in second place in the fiercely disputed February 7 election

Ecuador's electoral authority announced on Sunday that conservative candidate Guillermo Lasso will dispute the presidential runoff next April after coming in second place in the fiercely disputed February 7 election. The third-placed finisher denounced fraud.

The national electoral council (CNE) said Lasso, a proponent of pro-market economic policies, obtained 19.74% of the vote and will advance to a runoff against leftist economist Andres Arauz on April 11. Arauz, an ally of former President Rafael Correa, won the most votes in the first round with 32.72%, far from the margin required to win outright.

Indigenous environmentalist candidate Yaku Perez came in third with 19.39% of the vote, 32,600 votes fewer than Lasso, the CNE said. Perez had requested a recount in 17 of Ecuador's 24 provinces on grounds of alleged fraud and manipulation of vote count data.

The CNE denied the request before the results were declared, arguing he had not presented enough proof, but Perez was defiant. “We will continue taking action because an electoral fraud cannot go unpunished,” he said in the Andean city of Riobamba.

Perez has since last week been marching with hundreds of indigenous Ecuadoreans through the country's central highlands toward the capital Quito to demand a recount. Other civil society groups have announced plans to demonstrate in favor of Perez next week.

The chief prosecutor's and comptroller's offices both called on the CNE to review their computer systems before the second round in response to Perez's allegations. Both Lasso and Arauz said they would be opposed to the intervention of other entities in the electoral process, warning against any vote delay.

“It is time to defend and strengthen democracy,” Lasso said on Twitter.