Guillermo Lasso retains a minimal advantage in the attempt to get the vote in Ecuador and Yaku Pérez denounces: “There is the trap, the fraud”

The center-right leader Guillermo Lasso continues to catch up with its native rival on Thursday Yaku Perez in the bid for second for the April 11 vote, although the difference is marginal and subject to change.

According to the digital platform of the National Electoral Council (CNE) until 14:00 GMT Lasso achieved 19.68% of the check with 1,802,371 votes, while Pérez garnered 19.48%, with 1,784,334. 99.90% of the minutes have been examined.

The Conservative leader started outperforming Pérez for the first time on Wednesday afternoon, apparently due to counting minutes from areas in the Costa region where he has the most support.

But the difference of 0.2 points is not enough mathematically, as there are still about 40 ballot boxes to be counted and 529 to be revised.

It is not clear whether those from abroad would be missing, since CNE sources consulted by Efe they disagree on whether or not they should be included in the results statistics.

According to the CNE, the review of election records in Manabí, Esmeraldas and Los Ríos provinces ended on Wednesday, but the process continues in that of Guayas (coast) and Morona Santiago (Amazon).

The change in voting habits has led to reports of fraud by the leader of the indigenous movement Pachakutik, who claims to be the victim of a plot by the right and left to keep him out of the polls.

Sunday’s winner, the correista, has already been validated for those elections Andres Arauz, which gets about 32% of the control.

In those elections, more than 13 million Ecuadorians were called to elect president, vice president, 137 representatives from the National Assembly and five from the Andean parliament.

From that moment on, the bid between Lasso and Pérez keeps the country in tension and creates tension because the indigenous movement is threatening a “great mobilization” to fight “fraud” and enforce “the people’s will”.

Warnings recalling the October 2019 riots, in which a dozen people were killed and about 1,500 injured.

Yaku Pérez asked for votes to be revised in six provinces

The indigenous candidate announced this on Wednesday will ask the State Inspector General to check the results of the elections in six provinces of the South American country, in which he suspects a plot against him.

“We are going to request the Comptroller’s Office to conduct a forensic electoral investigation in the provinces of Guayas, Manabí, Los Ríos, El Oro, Pichincha and Esmeraldas.Pérez noted at a press conference in the port city of Guayaquil, where he denounced a possible fraud against him.

Pérez, who has called on the population, particularly the indigenous movement, to hold a vigil to protect the popular will expressed during the polls, said that there have been a series of irregularities in the audit that harm it.

For example, he pointed out that many of the so-called “P-1” minutes, which record the counting of votes in the polling stations, show inconsistencies.

“There’s the catch, there’s the fraud“He stood on it.

“Lasso had the actual number of votes castBecause in a few minutes that candidate in principle gets 42 votes and Pérez only one, if other figures are presented in the verification, added the native candidate who also suspects fraud due to the increase in invalid votes after counting the registration minutes. .

So “We are going to ask, to request that the polling stations be opened to see the minutes by voteHe said, insisting that the test should be done in all six counties.

For his part, Lasso, who was cautious on Tuesday and asked to wait for the CNE to announce the results, He gave his assurance this Wednesday that he will be the one to go to the second round, having first seen himself outnumbered his rival.

“With deep humility and a great sense of responsibility, I assume I am leading the endeavor of the majority of the Ecuadorian people,” who voted for change in the country last Sunday, Lasso said after calling on other political forces to join. case. defeat Arauz and former president Correa.

(With information from EFE)

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