Electoral process in Ecuador – World Countries for Kids

Elections are held regularly in Ecuador, and some vital state institutions have shown greater independence in recent years. Nevertheless, violent crime, which has markedly gone up in recent years, has had a deep impact on the functioning of government and daily life for ordinary people. Official corruption, attacks on journalists, and due process violations are enduring challenges.

Electoral Process

The 2008 constitution made provision for a directly elected president. The president has the power to dissolve the National Assembly, which causes new elections for both the legislature and the presidency. In April 2021, Guillermo Lasso Mendoza, who had unsuccessfully run for president twice before, defeated Union for Hope candidate Andrés Arauz Galarza. Legislators failed in an attempt to impeach Lasso in 2022, but a majority voted to impeach in May 2023. Lasso then invoked a “mutual death” constitutional clause, allowing him to rule by decree with some judicial checks and triggering early elections.

Considerable violence was seen during the 2023 electoral period. Manta mayor AgustínIntriagoQuijano was murderedIn July. Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio Valencia, who ran on an anticorruption platform, was assassinated in early August while leaving a Quito rally. Men claiming to belong to Los Lobos, a major criminal organization, took responsibility for Villavicencio’s murder. No candidate got a majority in the first round held in August. In the October runoff, Daniel NoboaAzín defeated Citizens’ Revolution candidate Luisa González Alcívar to become the president. Noboa is likely to serve until May 2025, when Lasso’s term would have concluded, but can seek re-election.

Ecuador has a 137-seat unicameral National Assembly, with 116 directly electedmembers, 15 members elected by proportional representation, and 6 members elected from multiseat constituencies for Ecuadorians residing abroad. Members have the opportunity to serve a maximum of two four-year terms. Legislative polls were first held in August 2023, but problems with the telematic voting system used by Ecuadorians residing abroad prompted electoral authorities to repeat those polls in October. No party managed to win a majority in the snap elections. As of October, Citizens’ Revolution, established by former president Correa and his allies, won 51 seats. The Build Ecuador Movement (MCE) won 26. The Social Christian Party (PSC) won 18. National Democratic Action (ADN), which supported Noboa in his presidential campaign, won 14. No other party got more than 10 seats. More than a few members shifted allegiances by the time the new legislature met in November, leaving Citizens’ Revolution with 51 members, the MCE and the SCP with 18 each, and the ADN with 17. While the elections were marred by violence, domestic and international electoral observers concluded they were fairandcredible.