Ecuador’s 2017 Elections

Ecuador’s 2017 Elections

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Updated April 20, 2017
Ecuador’s 2017 Elections
Presidential Elections and April Runoff
modernize the country’s infrastructure, such as roads.
On April 2, 2017, governing party candidate Lenín Voltaire
Correa’s anti-imperialist rhetoric, which rejected the
Moreno narrowly won a runoff election in Ecuador with a
influence of the United States, and what Correa’s critics
margin of slightly more than 2% of the vote, according to
viewed as his antidemocratic policies, led to a deterioration
Ecuador’s National Electoral Council (CNE). Reporting
in relations between the United States and Ecuador.
after 100% of the vote was counted, CNE announced that
Moreno received 51.15% and opposition candidate
In the pre-electoral stage of the presidential race, Moreno
Guillermo Lasso received 48.85% of the votes cast. Lasso,
polled in first place most often while he faced a field of
who had come in second in the first-round vote on February
candidates ranging from right to far left. He came close to
19 (see Figure 1), gained the backing of an array of
winning the first round with the needed 40% of the vote.
opposition parties. A former banker, Lasso posed his
Moreno is regarded as more affable and easygoing than
campaign as a movement for change following a decade of
President Correa, and Moreno worked for years as a
rule under the Alianza Patria Altiva y Soberana (PAIS, or
disability advocate. Moreno was shot during a robbery
AP) party. Moreno and his vice presidential candidate Jorge
years ago and is disabled. He continued his advocacy after
Glas are slated to take office on May 24, 2017.
leaving the Correa government by serving as the U.N.
Special Adviser on Disability and Accessibility based in
Figure 1. Presidential Election and Runoff Results
New York.
Jorge Glas, on the other hand, turned out to be an unpopular
running mate. Not only is Glas seen as much closer to
Correa, but some observers indicated he was likely to
assume the presidency if Moreno decided to step down for
possible health reasons. Following his victory in April,
Moreno held a press conference to say he was not likely to
succumb to health problems and leave the recently won
presidential post. Glas was embroiled in a corruption
scandal that worsened in December 2016 and is related to
the management of Ecuador’s state-owned oil company,
Petroecuador. In response to the scandal, Moreno vowed
during the campaign to make the management of
Petroecuador much more transparent.

Source: Data from CNE. Graphic created by CRS.
Guillermo Lasso of the Creating Opportunities-Society
The 2017 elections were the first in a decade in which
United for More Action Alliance (CREO-SUMA), who
Rafael Correa did not run for president, but his two former
previously ran for president in 2013, was the first declared
vice presidents both ran. Presidential candidate Moreno
candidate in the 2017 election cycle. Lasso had been an
served as vice president under Correa from 2007 to 2013,
active critic of the Correa government, staging protests
and Glas was Correa’s most recent vice president until he
against the 2015 constitutional reforms and laws on
left office to become Moreno’s running mate. Moreno
inheritance advocated by Correa. Lasso’s platform sought
campaigned on continuing the work of the leftist Correa
to increase liberalization of the economy, and he
government, with a better balance between public and
campaigned for a sustainable-development model that gave
private interests. Although popular through much of his
primacy to small- and medium-sized industries. He
decade in office, by October 2016, President Correa’s
promoted a plan to create 1 million new jobs between 2017
approval rating had slipped to 41% and support for his
and 2021. He also was a strong advocate for the repeal of
political agenda, which he called the Citizens’ Revolution,
the 2013 Communications Law, which has been associated
with censoring Ecuador’s media
had declined. This factor could explain, in part, why the
but was advocated by the
election outcomes remained so close.
Correa government as a way to reduce elite control of the
broadcast media and democratize the medium. Lasso was
Correa, a fiery leftist populist, forged close ties with former
among several candidates who pushed to reduce the size of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In contrast, Moreno
the state apparatus overall. During the runoff campaign, the
has expressed more commitment to tolerance of critical or
Correa government used its dominance or control of state-
dissenting viewpoints and free expression. Correa,
owned media to denounce Lasso for his alleged
however, received broad support due to the political
involvement in the financial crisis of the late 1990s and
stability he brought to the country and his successful efforts
accuse him of personally profiting from that crisis.
to reduce inequality using oil profits, a commodity that
makes up more than 50% of Ecuador’s exports, and to
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Ecuador’s 2017 Elections
Legislative Elections
partial recount of voting results in five provinces was
Ecuador also held elections for its legislature in February
conducted (voting stations in the provinces shown in
2017. According to official tallies, more than 3,900
Figure 4). This initial recount turned up no discrepancies,
candidates competed for National Assembly seats in the
so the CNE said it would not proceed with a full recount
137-member body. In total, 70 different political parties
and would check only voting stations where critics had
registered candidates. Hamstrung by low oil prices and a
evidence of discrepancies. In addition, a team of electoral
contracting economy, Correa’s dominant AP party, as
observers from the Organization of American States had
expected, lost seats in the National Assembly; it went from
endorsed the April 2 runoff results, stating they had found
holding a supermajority of 100 seats in the 2013-2017
no irregularities. Lasso called for protestors to demonstrate
Congress to winning 74 seats in the February 2017
in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, and near the CNE
elections (see Figure 2). Although the AP party still
buildings in the capital city of Quito. On April 18, 2017,
constitutes a majority, the new Moreno Administration
CNE conducted another recount of contested station totals
likely will wrestle with a more fractured National Assembly
from locations throughout the country of nearly 1.3 million
than the previous administration, in part because of
votes, or approximately 10% of the 10.6 million recount
expected widening fissures within the AP and the necessity
ballots. That recount also did not alter the outcome, so the
of having to negotiate with numerous parties to form a
CNE declared the recount effort over and the final result
coalition to pass certain types of legislation, such as
was a narrow win by the Moreno-Glas ticket.
constitutional reforms.
Figure 4. Ecuador Runoff Recount of Stations in
Figure 2. Change in AP-held seats in the
Five Provinces
National Assembly

Source: Created by CRS with data from El Telégrafo, including
http://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/especiales/2017/Asamblea-Nacional/.
The 2017 national elections were conducted amid a
contracting economy, including the continued slump in oil
prices; an appreciating dollar (in a dollarized economy);
and disillusionment by some sectors with the authoritarian,

personalized style of President Correa. The austerity
Source: Created by CRS.
measures that accompanied the downturn made Correa’s
Outlook
government the target of protests from key sectors of the
Some analysts forecast that the next government will face
population, including indigenous peoples, trade union
significant challenges that will limit the possibility for
members, environmentalists, and critics from the right and
meaningful policy change. They suggest that President
center right. In addition, a powerful earthquake struck
Ecuador’s coast
Correa may become critical of the incoming Moreno
in April 2016, which necessitated a costly
Administration, especially if it strays from some of his key
recovery exceeding $3 billion. The International Monetary
viewpoints, which could undermine Moreno’s initiatives.
Fund (IMF) estimates that Ecuador’s economy contracted
Many observers also postulate that Correa will return as a
almost 2.2% in 2016 and that the economy will be in
presidential candidate for the 2021 elections, after
recession through 2018.
Moreno’s first term. Correa’s willingness to step away in a
period of economic decline may buoy his future popularity,
Figure 3. Ecuador Real GDP Growth
but that remains to be seen.
The United States, in an April 6, 2017, State Department
press release, congratulated President-elect Moreno on his
victory but noted “concerns about the electoral process and
[an expectation] that they will be fully considered and
resolved in a legal and transparent manner.” Although
Moreno’s win does not follow a recent trend of leftist
reversals in South America, the results suggest that Ecuador
Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2017.
is a more divided and polarized nation than in the years
when Correa handily won elections by a landslide. (For
Electoral Controversies and Challenges
more, see CRS Report R44294, Ecuador: In Brief.)
Lasso demanded a vote-by-vote recount and claimed the
June S. Beittel, Analyst in Latin American Affairs
runoff in April was marred by fraud that denied him a
IF10581
victory. The CNE announced on April 10, 2017, that a
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Ecuador’s 2017 Elections

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