Ecuador polls predict close race for presidency

Alexandra Valencia
Updated ·2 min read
1
Ecuadorean presidential candidates face off in a televised debate, in Quito
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) -Daniel Noboa, heir to a business fortune, is leading some polls published on Thursday ahead of Ecuador's presidential contest on Oct. 15, though two put him in a technical tie with his rival Luisa Gonzalez, the protege of a former leftist president.

Noboa, son of banana baron Alvaro Noboa, has proposed benefits for companies that hire young people and said he will promote private investment in electricity and oil and attract foreign capital. He has also pledged to use technology to fight an extended crime wave.

Gonzalez, 45, has pledged to bring back wide-ranging social programs put in place by her mentor, former President Rafael Correa, boost oil production and inject $2.5 billion of international reserves into the economy.

Noboa, 35, would win 41.5% of total votes, including blank and void ballots, while Gonzalez, who led the first round of voting, would garner 36.4%, according to polling firm Comunicaliza.

"The debate basically didn't affect voting intention for Noboa ... but it raised support for Gonzalez (+3.3%)," Alvaro Marchante, the head of the pollster wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, referring to a televised debate over the weekend.

Some 12.4% of those polled have not yet decided who to vote for, while 9.7% said they would turn in blank or null votes, the firm said.

The survey, conducted this week, included 5,265 people and had a margin of error of 1.35%.

Meanwhile, a poll by Negocios & Estrategias showed Noboa had only a slight lead over Gonzalez, predicting he would win 39% of total votes to her 38.63%, well within the margin of error of 1.8%.

Some 17% of the 3,000 people polled are still undecided, while 5.3% would hand in protest ballots, Negocios & Estrategias said.

Gonzalez would win with 47.6%, a third poll by Maluk Resarch showed, with Noboa trailing with 45.5% and protest votes at 6.9%, putting the two in another technical tie given a margin of error of 3%.

Whoever is elected will govern in a shortened term until May 2025, when regularly scheduled elections will take place. This contest was called by current President Guillermo Lasso after he dissolved the legislature to avoid impeachment.

(Reporting by Alexandra ValenciaWriting by Julia Symmes CobbEditing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio)