Ecuador's presidential election will proceed to a second round runoff in April as no candidate seems to be able to win outright after more than 90 percent of the vote were counted.
With 92.82 percent of the vote counted, Daniel Noboa, the incumbent president and candidate of the National Democratic Action, led with 44.5 percent, according to figures of the National Electoral Council released on Monday.
Noboa was closely followed by Luisa Gonzalez, the candidate of the Citizen Revolution Movement, who garnered 43.86 percent of the vote.
Santiago Vela, a nurse, is a supporter of Noboa. He said that the country needs peace.
"We have seen that without security, the country cannot move forward, and obviously, this has to go hand-in-hand with education, employment and health improvements," he said.
While Ana De Coronel, a child psychologist, said her vote was for Gonzalez.
"I see her as a very confident person, and she is very firm and very convinced of what she wants to do. I believe she has the support to do something positive for our country," said the voter.
According to Ecuador's Constitution, a candidate is elected president in the first round if he/she secures either more than 50 percent of the vote or at least 40 percent of the vote while leading the runner-up by more than 10 percentage points.
Ecuadorans went to the polls on Sunday to elect a president, a vice president, 151 members of the National Assembly and five members of the Andean Parliament.
Preliminary results show Ecuador to hold presidential runoff
Preliminary results show Ecuador to hold presidential runoff
