Presidential runoff campaign begins officially March 10 and runs for 20 days

The National Electoral Council (CNE) has released the rules for the presidential runoff election and announced that the campaign officially begins March 10 and ends March 31. The election is Sunday, April 2.

CNE president Juan Pablo Pozo

Although the final vote count from the February 19 election remains to be certified, CNE president Juan Pablo Pozo said Tuesday that results of the presidential race will not change. With 100% of the votes counted, Alianza País candidate Lenin Moreno has 39.36% of the vote versus 28.09% for CREO’s Guillermo Lasso.

According to CNE, each presidential campaign is allowed to spend 40% of the amount of money spent during the first primary on advertising and various promotional expenses.

Early voting for the elderly, the disabled, and prisoners who are awaiting trial but have not been convicted of a crime, will be March 30 and 31.

Certified polling organizations can release their results until March 23, after which dissemination of new results is prohibited. The organizations that wish to participate in exit polling April 2 can reapply to CNE. Exit poll data cannot be released until after the polls close at 5 p.m.

The campaign’s quiet period begins at midnight March 30 and continues through the election. The election dry law goes into affect on noon Friday, March 31, prohibiting sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, continuing until Monday, April 3 at noon.

According to Pozo, the results of election should be known by 8 p.m. on election night. “We learned a lot from the first round and will make adjustment for April 2. The ballot will be short in this case so results will come quickly.”