Ecuadorians are already going to the polls to re-elect Correa.
If re-elected for a second term, Correa will secure the right to remain in power for 10 years. An economist with master's and doctoral degrees from the United States and Europe, he was first elected president in 2006, promising constitutional reform; this will be his third election.
Monica Yanakiew
EBC Correspondent
Quito – Ecuador’s 11,6 million voters, representing the vast majority of the population of 14,6 million, are electing today (17) the president, vice-president, 137 members of the National Assembly and five representatives of the Andean Parliament. Voting began at 7 am (9 am Brasília time) and will continue until 17 pm. President Rafael Correa voted early in the morning. He said he will accompany his wife (who is Belgian, but will vote) and daughter (who is 16 years old and will vote for the first time) to the polls.
This is the first election in which active-duty military and police personnel, as well as teenagers aged 16 to 18, have the option to vote. The National Electoral Council (CNE) also promoted the "Everyone Has the Right to Vote" campaign to encourage people with disabilities to participate in the election. There are 2,251 voters, including visually impaired individuals, who will have ballots in Braille.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) will use a quick-count computer system and has promised to release the results hours after the end of voting (19 pm Brasília time). Current president Rafael Correa – in power since January 2007 – is expected to be re-elected for another four years, his third consecutive term.
Until the end of the short campaign, which lasted a month and a half and ended last Thursday (14), the other seven presidential candidates hoped to at least force Correa to participate in a second round, on April 7. But opinion polls give the president more than half the votes and a large advantage over his opponents.
To be elected in the first round, Correa would need at least 40% of the vote and a 10-percentage-point lead over the second-place candidate. Polls indicated that he had the support of more than half of the voters and more than double the votes of the second-place candidate, former banker Guillermo Lasso.
If re-elected for a second term, Correa will secure the right to remain in power for 10 years. An economist with master's and doctoral degrees from the United States and Europe, he was first elected president in 2006, promising constitutional reform. The new Constitution (which also allows for two consecutive four-year presidential terms) was approved in a referendum, and Correa, whose government had completed two years, ran for re-election. This will be his third election. Of the 11,6 million voters, 285 live abroad.