Both presidential candidates voted in bulletproof vests as the polls closed in Ecuador on Sunday, only weeks after a competitor was killed, but there were no reports of any incidents of violence.
Lawyer Luisa Gonzalez, 45, and heir to the banana company Daniel Noboa, 35, are the two candidates left standing in the runoff election. They are competing to lead a nation that is now embroiled in a drug war and a wave of political assassinations.
Both have sworn to give the rising violence top priority.
The president of the National Electoral Commission, Diana Atamaint, vowed a “immediate” inquiry after pictures on social media appeared to show someone filling out numerous ballots in support of Noboa.
Although there were many police present during the ten hours of voting on Sunday, Interior Minister Juan Zapata claimed there had been no violent events.
To ensure the security of the voting, about 100,000 police and military were deployed.
“It is a critical election,” Freddy Escobar, a popular 49-year-old singer, told AFP in a voting line, citing crime as his main worry. “I am voting in fear, not knowing what will happen.”
The main concerns of Ecuadorans, according to recent polls, are crime and violence in a country where the murder rate quadrupled in the four years to 2022.
“Today we win,” Noboa shouted as he pumped his fist in the air after voting in the coastal town of Olon, where he lives.
Gonzalez also predicted victory as she cast her ballot in the southwest town of Canuto.
“My hunch is that Ecuador will win, in other words, Citizen Revolution,” she said, referring to her political party.
