Ecuador’s presidential race heads to runoff

Quito, Feb 9 : Ecuador’s presidential elections are heading to a runoff scheduled for April 16 after none of the record 16 candidates in the fray could secure a required 40 per cent majority, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said.
The CNE said on Monday that the runoff will take place between progressive candidate Andres Arauz and his closest rival, who is yet to be determined.
With some 97.56 per cent of the ballots cast on Sunday tabulated, the results showed that Arauz, candidate for the Union for Hope Alliance, was the frontrunner, with 32.2 per cent of the votes.
The second-placed candidate is yet to be declared, with indigenous activist Yaku Perez and former banker and three-time presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso receiving 19.8 per cent and 19.6 per cent of the votes, respectively.
Ecuadorian electoral authorities said they expect to make that announcement once 100 per cent of the ballots have been tallied.
Perez and Lasso agreed to wait for the official results before declaring victory, though both have said they expect to be in the runoff.