Ecuador today has a re-elected president, Daniel Noboa, amid allegations of fraud by the Revolución Ciudadana (RC), the political movement of candidate Luisa González. According to data from the National Electoral Council (CNE), Noboa, son of Ecuador’s richest man and leader of the ruling National Democratic Action (ADN) movement, won the election by more than 10 points over González.

With 92.66 per cent of the votes counted, Noboa has 55.83 per cent of the votes, compared to 44.17 per cent for his rival.

Neither polls nor analysts had expected such a result; forecasts indicated that the election would be close.

In the face of these unexpected numbers, González rejected the results and claimed that fraud had been committed in the registration of votes to benefit Noboa against the will of the people.

«The RC has always recognised a defeat when the polls have shown it», but «today we do not recognise the results», «I refuse to believe that there is a people who prefer lies to the truth. We are going to ask for a recount and for the polls to be opened,» she said.

Before dozens of supporters on Sunday night, she recalled the irregularities in the process which, in her opinion, justify the fraud, including the refusal of the president to request the corresponding licence for officials aspiring to re-election.

To this he added the declaration of a new state of emergency for seven provinces and two municipalities in the country, the relocation of polling stations, and the restriction of the vote for 10 Ecuadorians living in Venezuela.

The executive secretary of the CR, Andrés Arauz, denounced the publication of the minutes without signatures to support the results, which constitutes an irregularity.

In response to Gonzalez’s announcement that he would ask for the ballot boxes to be opened to recount the votes, the head of the CNE, Diana Atamaint, affirmed that there are administrative electoral contentious appeals within the framework of the law.

The international anti-fascist organisation International Antifascista described the fraud as an «assault on the will of the people».

According to its statement, the electoral process was marked by authoritarian and repressive manoeuvres by Noboa with foreign backing and tactics reminiscent of «the darkest dictatorships of the 20th century».