This Tuesday, May 23, Ecuador’s National Electoral Council (CNE) approved a US$80 million budget for early presidential and legislative elections to be held on August 20 of this year.
Of that total amount, US$48.3 million will be used for both the legislative elections and the first round of the presidential elections.
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In the event that none of the presidential candidates manage to reach 51% of the votes, the CNE will allocate US$31.6 million for a second electoral round, which would be held on October 15.
“Every penny will be invested for democracy and to have clear and transparent elections,” stated the president of the CNE, Diana Atamaint, specifying that the budget could decrease if there were to be no second round of elections.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the CNE members also defined the schedule to follow for the anticipated presidential and legislative elections.
Political parties may register candidates from May 28 to June 10. Once the CNE approves the candidates, the political campaigns will take place from August 8 to 17.