Ecuador: Leftist Presidential Candidate Luisa González Denounces Electoral Fraud

Luisa González, the presidential candidate for Ecuador’s leftist political movement Citizen Revolution, refused to recognize the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE) which declared incumbent President Daniel Noboa the winner. She added that electoral fraud occurred in the vote tally to favor Noboa against the will of the people, reported Telesur.

“Before my people, standing tall as always—as honorable women do—I want to be clear and emphatic … Citizen Revolution has always accepted defeat when polls have shown it. But today, we do not recognize these results,” she emphasized.

“On behalf of the men, women, youth, and children whom I represent, we do not acknowledge the announced results,” she reiterated. “I refuse to believe our people prefer lies over truth. We will demand a recount and the opening of ballot boxes.”

Controversial official results
The partial results of the second round election announced by the CNE at 10:20 p.m. on Sunday, April 13, with 94.05% of the votes counted, showed incumbent Daniel Noboa leading the race with 5,580,878 votes representing 55.83%, while Luisa González allegedly only received 4,415,033 votes, or 44.17% of the votes. This signifies a margin of 11,66 percentage points in favor of Noboa.

Analysts questioned the veracity of these numbers given that González, who received almost 44% of the votes in the first round, was able to create alliance with political forces from the left and the center of the Ecuadorian political spectrum in recent weeks, while Noboa was entangled in multiple scandals and lack of government achievements.

Exit polls of the firm Telcodata, paid by the ruling party, released just hours before the official results were announced by the CNE, gave Noboa 51.2% of the votes and González 48.8%.

González: Noboa abused power
The Citizen Revolution candidate accused Noboa of abusing presidential authority. “He never requested [the National Assembly] for leave to campaign and used the CNE to impose his authoritarian agenda,” she declared.

She also condemned Noboa’s declaration of a state of emergency in seven provinces just the day before the election “to facilitate a colossal fraud.” She noted that 11 opinion polls—including those commissioned by the government itself—had projected a Citizen Revolution victory. She demanded ballot boxes be reopened and votes recounted.

“This is a dictatorship, and we are witnessing the most massive electoral fraud in Ecuador’s history,” she emphasized.

“We will defend our right to democracy,” she continued. “Ecuador cannot continue to be governed by someone incapable of leading the country towards peace and development, someone who prioritizes personal business and family welfare over the nation.”

“Now more than ever, we must monitor the actions of the individual claiming to be president. I publicly condemn this fraud. The fight continues,” she concluded.

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Voting process
After a ten-hour election day, Ecuador closed its polls at 5 p.m. on Sunday in an atmosphere of high political tensions, following the state of emergency decreed by President Daniel Noboa in provinces where he lacked support, numerous illegalities throughout his campaign, and a multidimensional crisis encompassing the economy, security, and other aspects that he could not resolve.

According to official data, some 13.7 million Ecuadorian citizens were eligible to vote to elect one out of two government models: the continuity of Daniel Noboa, who represents the right, the oligarchy, and neoliberal reforms, or the return of the Citizen Revolution movement represented by candidate Luisa González, with a government program addressing the structural causes of poverty and exclusion and the opening of opportunities for the poorest sectors.

By 1 p.m., about 41% of the electorate had cast its vote, including at polling stations set up in 39 countries, with high voter turnout in the United States, Spain, and Italy, where the largest Ecuadorian communities abroad live.

After the voting stations closed at 5 p.m., the vote count by the voting boards began. The process was closely followed by 1,213 national and 480 international observers.

Reports indicate that voting abroad proceeded normally, except for the exclusion of Ecuadorians residing in Venezuela from voting, with the Ecuadorian electoral authorities’ excuse that it was too expensive, which sparked protests from Ecuadorians living in Venezuela who gathered in front of the Ecuadorian consulate in Caracas to express their discontent.

The Ecuadorian government deployed more than 48,000 members of the Armed Forces and 57,000 National Police officers. There was heavy rainfall in the country the day before the election as well as on election day, and on Saturday, the CNE relocated at least 18 polling stations, drawing complaints from voters and the Citizen Revolution party.

Meanwhile, 47,484 delegates registered to exercise electoral control for the Citizen Revolution, as well as 47,377 delegates from Noboa’s party ADN.

Luisa González had called on the Armed Forces and the Police not to interfere in the vote or the counting process. She emphasized the importance of carrying out a transparent electoral process.

The candidate also criticized the state of emergency decree, arguing that it seeks to hinder the mobilization of political parties during the vote count. She also questioned obstacles in the accreditation of foreign electoral observers.

(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SC