Ecuador’s National Electoral Council has named incumbent head of state Daniel Noboa the winner of the second round of the presidential election.
“We inform the people of Ecuador that the results of processing 90% of the protocols show an irreversible trend in the results of the second round of the presidential election. The National Electoral Council believes that the candidates (for president and vice-president – Taarifa) from the National Democratic Action party, Daniel Noboa and Maria Jose Pinto, have won,” National Electoral Council head Diana Atamaint said at a press conference.
According to the National Electoral Council’s information, published after processing 92.64% of the protocols, 55.88% of the voters supported Noboa and 44.12% backed Gonzalez. The difference between the candidates is more than 1.1 million votes.
Noboa was elected in the early presidential elections of October 2023. His rise to power coincided with an escalating security crisis. In January 2024, the head of state signed a decree recognizing the existence of an internal armed conflict in the country and ordered the neutralization of 22 criminal groups. If re-elected, he promises to continue his security policies, including the construction of mega-prisons for high-risk criminals.
Gonzalez, who held various positions in the government of President Rafael Correa (in power from 2007 to 2017), accused Noboa of failing to fulfill campaign promises and of having an authoritarian style of governing the country. Gonzalez proposed to address the causes of rising crime (poverty and inequality) and to rehabilitate the Justice Ministry. She promised to emphasize the development of renewable energy, restore state management of hydroelectric power plants and diversify the economy.
The inauguration of the president-elect is scheduled for May 24.
