Elections in Ecuador: the first polls win …

At the end of the election day in Ecuador, the first private polls gave the presidential candidate de Correísmo as the winner, economist Andrés Arauz although he does not avoid the ballot. Arauz would reach between 35 and 36.2% of the vote compared to the main reference on the right, businessman Guillermo Lasso, who would obtain between 21 and 21.7% of the vote, according to local pollsters Cedatos and Clima Social. The first results published by the National Electoral Council on its website confirm the consultants’ forecasts.

While waiting for the advance of the rapid count to cast certainties on the result, it is assumed that the votes would not reach Arauz to triumph in the first round. The young candidate of Union for Hope (UNES) won ‘resounding victory’ in election and ensured that when the results of all regions of the country are known, the triumph will be even more tall that the first surveys indicate.

In a day of relative tranquility but with constant and long queuesMillions of Ecuadorians came to vote across the country. Two hours after the polls closed, 62.34% of the electoral lists had already voted, a high figure given the difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic, informed CNE adviser José Cabrera Zurita.

Although the official figures are not yet known, Arauz declared himself the winner on his social networks. “We won! A resounding victory in all regions of our beautiful country. Our win is 2 to 1 against the banker. Congratulations to the Ecuadorian people for this democratic party. We will wait for the official results to celebrate, ”tweeted the young economist.

He later said on Un Café con JJ that we have to wait for the official counts because private polls do not measure the vote from abroad and several regions of the country in which Correísmo wins by a wide margin.

“We believe the official results should be expected. Exit polls are often insufficient because of the covert vote.”, explained in the same vein the former chancellor of the government of Rafael Correa and current campaign adviser, Guillaume Long, in reference to the intention to vote which does not usually appear in polls. “But whatever, the victory advanced by the exit points shows a victory with a greater margin of difference with the second candidate than expected“he added.

In Sunday’s election, in which all 137 members of the National Assembly were also appointed, a record 16 presidential candidates participated. Without major shocks and with the closing of the polls at 5 p.m. local time, the day was characterized in the main cities by long lines of voters despite the pandemic.