Presidential race heads to an April runoff as Noboa holds a small lead over Luisa González

President Daniel Noboa and Luisa González will face each other in an April 13 presidential runoff election. With than 92% of votes counted, President Daniel Noboa holds a narrow 44.31% to 43.83% lead over Citizens Revolution Luisa González.

President Daniel Noboa and Luisa González

The National Electoral Council suspended vote counting in most of the country at midnight and said counting would resume early Monday.

González’s strong showing was the top story of election day, as she defied polls showing her trailing Noboa by more than 5%. The Noboa campaign was disappointed as hopes of a first-round victory faded with the vote count.

Other election headlines were the strong showing of Leonidas Iza (Pachakutik), who polled more than 5% of the vote and the weaker than expected showing of Andrea González (Patriotic Society) who had 2.8% support as of midnight.

Besides Noboa, Luisa González, Iza and Andrea González, none of the other 12 candidates in the race reached 1% of the vote total.

Early Sunday evening, Luisa González celebrated her strong showing, predicting she would gain a “technical tie” election tie with Noboa. “We are headed to a runoff that will produce a different result than 2022,” she told supporters. In the 2022 cross death election, González led Noboa by 11% in the first election only to lose by 3% in the runoff.

Noboa was scheduled to meet supports in Quito at 9 Sunday night but cancelled his appearance without explanation. Hours later, he issued a statement thanking his supporters for “taking the first step” in establishing a new political order in Ecuador.

CNE President Diana Atamaint blamed “technical problems” for the slower than expected vote counting process but said at 10 Sunday night that those had been overcome. She issued a “warning” at 7 p.m. that two exit polls showing Luisa González and Noboa with large leads “appeared to be highly inaccurate” based on early vote counts.

The CNE said final results of the National Assembly election will be announced Monday but, based on the support for Noboa and Luisa González, it appears National Democratic Action and Citizens Revolution will share power but neither party will have a 76-seat majority. With 90% of votes counted, ADN would hold 68 seats to 64 for Citizens Revolution.