QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s elections body on Thursday denied a request from the leftist opposition to recount presidential votes from thousands of ballot boxes, narrowing the possibilities for the Citizens’ Revolution party to continue to contest incumbent President Daniel Noboa’s win. The electoral authority said opposition leader and former presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez’s claims of […]
World
Ecuador elections body denies opposition request for vote recount
Audio By Carbonatix
QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s elections body on Thursday denied a request from the leftist opposition to recount presidential votes from thousands of ballot boxes, narrowing the possibilities for the Citizens’ Revolution party to continue to contest incumbent President Daniel Noboa’s win.
The electoral authority said opposition leader and former presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez’s claims of fraud were without substance.
Gonzalez and her party had alleged votes submitted at more than 13,000 ballot boxes had “uncorrectable flaws,” though the elections body said a review of the tally sheets failed to turn up any numerical errors or missing signatures.
Electoral authorities, outside observers and even members of Gonzalez’s bloc have widely recognized Noboa’s win in an April 13 runoff vote, securing him a full term.
Final tallies showed Noboa won 55.63% and Gonzalez 44.37%.
Gonzalez could still challenge the results before the full electoral council or take the matter to Ecuador’s elections court.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Natalia Siniawski)