Moreno victory ‘confirmed’; Supporter tells Lasso to put up or shut up about fraud claims

Juan Pablo Pozo, president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), announced Tuesday that Lenin Moreno’s victory in Sunday’s presidential election is “confirmed and is irreversible.” With 99.65 percent of the vote counted, Moreno holds a 51.16 to 48.84 percent lead over Guillermo Lasso.

“Even if some votes are shifted due to investigations into vote counting irregularities, they will not be enough to change the outcome of the election,” Pozo said.

Guayaquil mayor and Lasso supporter Jaime Nebot said Tuesday that Lasso should immediately provide documented evidence of fraud if he has it. “If he plans to put thousands of people in the street to protest the election, he needs solid, verifiable information to support his position,” Nebot said. “He needs to prove fraud immediately or his credibility is damaged.”

Given the margin of victory, Nebot said any fraud would have to be systematic and coordinated by the government. “This must be proven for him to have a case,” Nebot said.

Lasso said he would present his evidence on Wednesday but has so far only mentioned vote-counting irregularities in Guayaquil to support his charges.

CNE has offered to allow the Lasso campaign to review all computer vote-counting records although campaign officials have yet to respond to the offer.

The Organization of American States (OAS) election observers called on the government to follow all legal precedents in determining if voting irregularities occurred. The CNE responded that it would.

The OAS also recommended that the government review its policy on the release of exit poll information immediately following presidential elections. “The polls caused a great deal of confusion on Sunday, especially since they came to different conclusions,” an OAS statement said. “The manner in which the poll results were announced in the media led many people to believe they were accurate predictors of the election outcome and this is the basis for much of the post-election anger.”