Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa won the country’s presidential election on Sunday based on preliminary results, an electoral official said.
As Noboa's main rival demanded a recount of the vote following a race overshadowed by drug-fueled violence that has consumed the once-peaceful South American country.
Noboa, a conservative, has made fighting crime and economic revitalization two of his main goals — summed up in the slogan “New Ecuador”— as he faces, among other challenges, violence by criminal groups and an energy crisis that has caused constant blackouts in the country.
“In the name of the people we represent, we do not recognize the results presented by the (National Electoral Council),” González said in front of supporters.
“I refuse to believe that a people would prefer lies instead of truth, violence instead of peace and unity,” González said in Quito, according to Reuters. “We are going to demand a recount and for them to open ballot boxes.”
With 90% of the ballots counted, the trend in favor of Noboa is irreversible and he is considered the winner, National Electoral Council president Diana Atamaint told a press conference Sunday.
But Noboa’s closest challenger, leftist lawyer Luisa González, said she rejected the results and demanded a recount.
