Draft:2017 Ecuadorian presidential election

The 2017 Presidential Elections of Ecuador occurred on 19 February 2017 to elect the President and Vice President of Ecuador for the period of 2017-2021. The first round of voting occurred simultaneously with the legislative elections in which voters chose representatives for the Andean Parliament and the National Assembly for the same period, as well as a tax haven referendum about the electorate opinion regarding the issue of public officials that have accounts and businesses in tax havens.

Because none of the pairings had enough votes to be chosen in the first round, on 2 April a runoff election was carried out in which Lenín Moreno, candidate of PAIS Alianza, won with 51.16% of the votes against Guillermo Lasso, candidate of the Creating Opportunities party and of the Movimiento SUMA, who took 48.84%.

The winning presidential pair took office 24 May 2017.

Official CNE Announcements
On 18 February, 2016, an election year, the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the first round of elections would take place on the 19th of February, 2017. The CNE designated a budget of 131.5 million dollars - 111.2 million for the first round, and 20.3 million for the second round and to finance 44,510 Vote Receiving Boards. The CNE carried out the call to the elections on October 18th, putting the political parties from this date to start to officially register their candidates to the distinct election positions for the popular election to choose in the electoral process until 18 November. The second round was carried out on Sunday, 2 April.

On 4 October, the CNE announced that the number of authorized voters in the 2017 elections was 12,816,698, of a total population of 16,613,313.

On 18 October, the CNE officially convocó a the comicios generales of 19 February 2017, in the que se designará al president and vice president of Ecuador, five representatives to the Andean Parliament and 137 asambleístas for the 2017-2021 period.

Registration of parties and movements
The CNE announced on 18 August the number of parties and political movements eligible for participating in the 2017 general elections, of which 7 were national parties, 9 were national movements, and 54 were provincial political movements, in total 70 political organizations were eligible to participate in the general elections on 19 February 2017.

Etapa preelectoral
The carrera for the presidential elections of 2017 inició desde finales of 2015, with the aprobación de the enmiendas constitucionales for the National Assembly, entre the cuales se dio paso a the reelección indefinida de the autoridades de elección popular, but agregando al the last minute una transitoria in the cual se estableció que the reelección sin límites entraba in vigencia desde the 24 May 2017, no pudiendo optar for esto a the reelección the president Rafael Correa ni the asambleístas reelectos in 2013. Guillermo Lasso, a presidential candidate in the 2013 presidential election for the Movimiento CREO, announced su precandidatura presidencial a inicios of 2016 manteniendo una presencia activa in the political debates and in the media. For part of the official movement of Alianza PAIS, se empezaron a barajar possible presidential candidates, nombrando the president Correa al ministro of the interior José Serrano, the president for the National Assembly Gabriethe Rivadeneira, al ex vice president Lenin Moreno and al vice president Jorge Glas, siendo the dos últimos the más nombrados for recibir the candidatura, aumentando ambos su presencia pública ante esto. A mediados of 2016, a grupo independiente denominado Rafathe Contigo Siempre, presentó una propuesta de Referéndum Constitucional, in the cual se somete a votación the vigencia or no de the transitoria about the reelección aprobada for the Asamblea, teniendo como objetivo permitir una candidatura a the reelección of the president Correa, siendo esta propuesta aprobada for the Corte Constitucional, permitiendo que iniciin the proceso de recolección de firmas, necesitando 950 000 firmas aproximadamente for que se llame a elections. In agosto, the colectivo presentó 1 248 000 firmas al Consejo Nacional Electoral for su revisión. Alianza PAIS se desmarcó de esta propuesta; the president (Correa) announced reiteradamente que no planea candidatearse aunque se apruebe the referéndum; mientras que the oposición criticó fuertemente esta propuesta. The 20 September, ante the rechazo definitivo of the president Correa de presentarse a una tercera re-election in una reunión with the integrantes de Rafathe Contigo Siempre, the colectivo decidió desistir with the process de referéndum for habilitar the re-election indefinida for the 2017 elections, andesto a su vez provocó que the Consejo Nacional Electoral no asignara recursos for the verificación de the firmas entregadas.

Consulta Popular
Before the escándalo de the filtraciones of the Panama Papers, the president Correa envió a the Corte Constitucional a proposition for convocar a Consulta Popular the day of the presidential elections, asking him if the autoridades electas for votación popular debin o no poseer activos and capitales in paraísos fiscales, having como plazo a year later of assuming their positions for vender the in caso de que gane the sí. The oficialismo and Correa proposed a "Pacto ético" to the presidential candidates in conjunction with the propuesta a Consulta Popular, calling a que no mantengan sus capitales fuera of the country, denominando esto como immoral, siendo esta aceptada for algunos precandidates como Dalo Bucaram, and rechazada for others like Guillermo Lasso and of the miembros de the Unidad, which argued that the consulta was unconstitutional and hecha with dedicatoria buscando afectar the panorama electoral. On 15 November 2016, the Corte Constitucional aprobó the pedido of the president Rafael Correa for convocar a consulta popular in 2017 about the denominado "Pacto Ético", esta se realizarían the same day of the general elections.

Electoral Alliances
The majority of political parties sought to form alliances and coalitions for the elections of 2017:


 * The oficialismo creó the Frente UNIDOS, conformado for Alianza PAIS, the Socialist Party – Broad Front of Ecuador, the Communist Party of Ecuador, and various provincial movements. Initially incluía al party Avanza, but se retired in 2015. The Movement Democratic Center of the prefecto of the Guayas Jimmand Jaira was ex pell ed from the coalition on 19 October for haber dado su apoyo a Paco Moncayo.
 * Guillermo Lasso formed the agrupación Compromiso Ecuador que agrupaba a CREO, a varios actores políticos de distintas ideologías procedentes de other parties como Bettand Amores and Enrique Herrería, movimientos políticos no inscritos in the CNE and social organizations, que patrocinan su candidatura presidencial. In October, the Movimiento SUMA establece an alliance with CREO al igual que the Movimiento Juntos Podemos de Paúl Carrasco. in the Convención de CREO se oficializa the coalition Alianza for the Cambio.
 * The alcalde de Guayaquil Jaime Nebot, junto al alcalde de Quito Mauricio Rodas anof the prefecto de Azua and Paúl Carrasco conformaron the Convergencia Democrática for the Unidad with the objetivo de establecer una coalición amplia de the centro left a the right, siendo integrada for the PSC, party Avanza, the Movimiento Concertación and various movimientos provinciales. The Movimiento SUMA se retiró de the coalición junto with the Movimiento Juntos Podemos de Carrasco in October 2016 dándole su apoyo a Guillermo Lasso. On 30 October 2016, a raíz de declaraciones de Cynthia Viteri about the possiblity of the extinción de the Unidad, the president nacional of the party Avanza, Ramiro González, announced their seperation de the misma for participating with candidates propios a the assembly. Cynthia Viteri announced on 31 October the disolución official coalition, confirmando que the parties integrantes lanzarán candidates propios a the diferentes dignidades.
 * The parties de left conformaron the Acuerdo Nacional for the Cambio, coalición progresista integrada for Pachakutik, Unidad Popular, left Democrática, movements and organizaciones sociales andactores de left como Paco Moncayo and Enrique Ayathe Mora. In October, Centro Democrático Nacional oficializó su apoyo a the candidatura de Paco Moncayo.

Precandidaturas retiradas
The following people were precandidates to the presidencia representando a uno o a various parties in the political coalition, sin embargo, tras un proceso de primary elections (with the case of Pachakutik), decisions for the party or movimiento o for voluntad propia, no participarán como the presidenciable oficial de su organización.

Elections
For estas elections se movilizaron the kits electorales realizados for the Consejo Nacional Electoral a todos the sectores of the país. Se desarrolló un new modelo de biombo for asegurar que the voto sea secreto.

The transportation of the kits electorales oficiales for the elections dentro of the país inició the 18 January 2017. On 6 February, este reparto empezó in the provincias de Morona Santiago, Zamora Chinchipe and Pastaza, debido to the sectores de difícil acceso in estos territorios. Previamente se habían enviado 830 paquetes electorales a the circunscripciones of the extranjero.

In total, they distributed 40,971 kits electorales in the territorio nacional, donde se encuentran alrededor de 64 million de papeletas de votación a nivthe general. The kits contenían the padrón electoral, donde se registran the electores; certificados de votación and de presentación; certificados de votación de the Fuerzas Armadas and Policía Nacional; papeletas de votación; actas de instalación de the Juntas Receptoras of the Voto; actas de escrutinio; actas de conteo rápido; actas de conocimiento público and resumin de resultados; nueve fundas de colores for the organización and distributation de the papeletas.

Aparte de the distribución de kits electorales, se realizaron simulacros previos a the votaciones for parte of the CNE in conjunto with colectivos and organizaciones sociales.

For the second round, the Consejo Nacional Electoral, basándose in the recomendaciones entregadas for the diferentes entidades internacionales invitadas como observadores de the first round electoral, decidió volver a utilizar urnas tradicionales for facilitar the conteo andevitar confusiones for parte de the ciudadanía al introducir the papeletas in the orificios.

Presidential candidates
The following were the candidates for President and Vice president officially written in the Consejo Nacional Electoral, detailing their most representative positions and their campaign slogan.

It specifies the party, movement, or political alliance that sponsored the candidates como fueron inscritos in the Consejo Nacional Electoral, including además the parties nacionales inscritos in the CNE que apoyaron the candidaturas, siendo estos ordenados de acuerdo al número de lista: Fuente: Consejo Nacional Electoral

Electoral campaign
The electoral campaign of the first round had a duration of 45 days, from 3 January until 16 February 2017. Luego de esto empezó the election process with the programa de voto asistido de casa in casa, and luego the votaciones regulares. A pesar de que estas eran the fechas oficiales for realizar campaign política, algunos de the candidates empezaron a recorrer the country before the tiempo establecido, llevando a cabo reuniones with sectores sociales, movimientos regionales and publicando mensajes a través de the medios de comunicación and of the redes sociales with contenido orientado a presentar posibles propuestas de campaign and for establecer su imagen, principalmente Guillermo Lasso and Cynthia Viteri.