Presidential ballot almost complete for February election with the nomination of 15 candidates

Pending certification by the National Electoral Council (CNE) and a ten-day period in which parities may decide to consolidate tickets, voters could have as many as 18 presidential candidates to choose from in the February 2021 national election. The deadline for parties to nominate candidates was midnight Sunday.

Gustavo Larrea

Under Ecuadorian law, there will be a run-off election if one candidate does not receive a majority of the vote or 40 percent with a 10 percent lead over the second-place finisher.

Still to be resolved by the CNE is the legality of the vice presidential candidacy of former President Rafael Correa. Correa has been convicted in a bribery case and sentenced to eight years in prison and is under an order of preventive detention in another case. The ex-president is technically a fugitive, living in Belgium, and the CNE is expected to rule him ineligible to be a candidate.

Two names that will not appear on the ballot are Álvaro Noboa and Abdalá Bucaram. Naboa, dubbed Ecuador’s “banana baron” and reportedly the richest man in Ecuador, decided Saturday he would not be a candidate as did ex-President Bucaram who is under house arrest for his role in a hospital supply scandal.

These are the 15 presidential candidates whose nominations were official as of 6 p.m. Sunday.

Gustavo Larrea
Nominated by Democracia Sí,  Larrea served as a minister in two previous administrations and describes himself as a center-leftist. His running mate is Alexandra Peralta.

Andrés Arauz

Guillermo Lasso
Nominated by Creo, Lasso, a 64-year-old former banker, is making his third run for president, narrowly losing to Lenin Moreno in 2016. He describes himself as a political centrist and leads the race in early polling. His vice presidential candidate is Cuenca doctor Alfredo Borrero.

Lucio Gutiérrez
Representing Sociedad Patriótica, former president and army colonel Lucio Gutiérrez, 63, is considered to represent centrist views. After being thrown out of office in 2005, he ran and lost for the presidency in 2009 and 2013. His running mate is David Norero, a lawyer.

Fabricio Correa
Running with Justicia Social, the 61-year-old Correa is the brother of Rafael and considers himself center-left. His vice presidential mate is Marcia Yazbeck.

Yaku Pérez
The candidate of the indigenous Pachakutik movement, Pérez says he is a leftist with a leaning to the center. He is the Azuay Province prefect. Larisa Marangoni was nominated to be his running mate but she declined the offer on Sunday.

César Montúfar
Nomimated by Concertación, Montúfar, 55, finished third in the 2009 Quito mayoral race and chaired the Manabí Anticorruption Commission following the 2014 earthquake. He calls himself a centrist. Julio Villacreses is the Concertación vice presidential candidate.

Isidro Romero
The Avanza candidate, Romero is a Guayaquil businessman and former president of the Barcelona Sporting Club, who calls himself center-right. He is the oldest candidate in the race at 78. His running mate is Sofía Merino

Fabricio Correa

Andrés Arauz
Nominated by Democratic Center, the 35-year-old Arauz is the youngest candidate in the field and represents the Correista movement of the former president. Correa is his running mate but will probably be ruled ineligible due to a criminal conviction. Arauz, who served in several capacities in the Correa administration, is a center-leftist.

Gerson Almeida
Candidate for the United Ecuadorian party, Almeida, 46, is an evangelical minister and founder of the Iglesia Cristiana Ministerio Betel Apostolic House. He is a rightist who wants to ban all abortions and reverse the law allowing gay marriage. His running mate is Martha Villafuerte.

Paúl Carrasco
Candidate of the Juntos Podemos movement, Carrasco, 49, is a former Azuay prefect and a centrist. Frank Vargas is his vice presidential candidate.

Ximena Peña
Nominated by Alianza País, the party founded by Rafael Correa and President Lenin Moreno, Peña, 44, serves in the National Assembly and was communication secretary in the Correa administration. She describes herself as center-left. The vice presidential candidate is Patricio Barriga.

Guillermo Celi
Candidate for the SUMA movement, Celi is a center-leftist who has been a university professor and a city councilman in Portoviejo. His running mate is Verónica Sevilla.

Cristina Reyes
Nominated by the Christian Social Party, Reyes, 41, has served as a National Assemblywoman and is a centrist. Diego Salgado is her partner on the ballot.

Esteban Quirola
Nominated by Libertad es Pueblo, Quirola is a businessman and prefect of El Oro Province. He says his politics are centrist. He is joined on the ticket by Juan Carlos Machuca.

Miguel Salem
The Fuerza Ecuador candidate, Salem, 40, was administrative secretary in the administration of President Abdalá Bucaram. He describes himself as center-left. His running mate is Gustavo Bucaram, Abdalá’s brother.