By GONZALO SOLANO and REGINA GARCIA CANO
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorians voted for a new president Sunday facing unprecedented health measures due to the coronavirus pandemic and the influence of a populist former head of state who was blocked from a place on the ballot due to a corruption conviction.
Sixteen candidates were vying to succeed President Lenín Moreno, a protege-turned-rival of former President Rafael Correa, who governed Ecuador for a decade and remains a major force despite a criminal conviction that blocked him from seeking the vice presidency this year.
The frontrunners were considered a Correa-backed candidate, Andrés Arauz, and a conservative former banker who finished second twice before, Guillermo Lasso. Indigenous rights and environmental activist Yaku Pérez trailed them in third place in pre-election polls.
To avoid an April 11 runoff, a candidate needed get 50% of the votes or finish with at least 40% while being 10 percentage points ahead of the second place candidate.
Voters were ordered to wear masks, bring their own bottle of hand sanitizer and pencil, keep a 5-foot (1.5-meter) distance from others and avoid all personal contact in the polling places. The only time voters were allowed to lower their masks was during the identification process.
Long lines formed at polling places, especially in big cities, where some voters had to wait hours to cast their ballots.
“I don’t care who wins the elections. We are used to thinking that the messiah is coming to solve our lives and no candidate has solved anything for me,” said one voter, Ramiro Loza. “During the quarantine, my income was reduced by 80%, and the politicians did not feed me.”
The winning candidate will have to work to pull the oil-producing nation out of a deepening economic crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The South American country of 17 million people recorded more than 253,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 15,000 deaths related to COVID-19 as of Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Arauz, a 35-year-old former culture minister who attended the University of Michigan, has proposed making the wealthy pay more taxes and strengthening consumer protection mechanisms, public banking and local credit and savings organizations. He said he would not comply with agreements with the International Monetary Fund.
Lasso, 65, was making a third run for the presidency after a long career in business, banking and government. He favors free-market policies and Ecuador’s rapprochement with international organizations. He promised to create more jobs and attract international banks. He also wants to boost the oil, mining and energy sectors through the participation of private entities to replace state financing.
Hovering over the election was the future of Correa, a leftist who is still only 57. He governed from 2007 to 2017 as an ally of Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, both now deceased.
He remains popular among millions of Ecuadorians after overseeing a period of economic growth driven by an oil boom and loans from China that allowed him to expand social programs, build roads, schools and other projects. But he increasingly cracked down on opponents, the press and businesses during his latter stage in office and feuded with Indigenous groups over development projects. His appeal also has been tarnished by a corruption conviction he says was a trumped up product of political vengeance.
Correa was sentenced in absentia in April to eight years in prison for his role in a scheme to extract millions of dollars from businessmen in exchange for infrastructure projects — money allegedly used for political purposes.
That conviction barred him from running as Arauz’s vice presidential candidate.
An earlier attempt by Ecuadorian prosecutors to extradite him from Belgium in an unrelated kidnapping case was rejected by Interpol on human rights grounds.
Moreno won office four years ago with the backing of Correa but broke with him, pursuing business-friendly policies as the nation’s economy was hit by a slide in oil and commodities prices. While eligible to seek reelection, he chose not to run.
Moreno, after voting, said his government would respect “the will of citizens” and remain vigilant to guarantee that no disturbances took place.
“I hope there will be a second round, where the people who voted for candidates like Yaku Pérez and others can join Lasso and the Correismo will finally end,” voter Andrés Karolys said.
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Associated Press writer Gonzalo Solano reported this story Quito and AP writer Regina Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.