<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div id="container" class="container font-size5 content-width3">
<div id="reader-header" class="header" style="display: block;"> <font
size="-2"><a id="reader-domain" class="domain"
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Lenin-Again-Wins-Ecuadors-Presidential-Race-After-Recount-20170418-0015.html">http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Lenin-Again-Wins-Ecuadors-Presidential-Race-After-Recount-20170418-0015.html</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Lenin Again Wins Ecuador's Presidential
Race After Recount</h1>
</div>
<div class="content">
<div id="moz-reader-content" class="line-height4"
style="display: block;">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"
xml:base="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Lenin-Again-Wins-Ecuadors-Presidential-Race-After-Recount-20170418-0015.html">
<div class="txt_newworld" itemprop="articleBody">
<p>April 18, 2017<br>
</p>
<p>Ecuador's National Electoral Council President Juan
Pablo Pozo reported that Tuesday's <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ecuador-Recounts-1.2M-More-Votes-Undercuts-Oppositions-Fraud-Accusations-20170414-0006.html">recount</a>
of the ballots that had inconsistencies during the April
2 presidential run-off election was completed, with
Alianza Pais candidate Lenin Moreno again winning the
vote.</p>
<p>The result of the recount culminated with more votes
for leftist Moreno, while the right-wing
candidate Guillermo Lasso, of the CREO-SUMA coalition,
obtained fewer votes. Moreno obtained 51.15 percent of
the votes on April 2, but in today's recounted got 51.16
percent. Lasso went from 48.85 percent to 48.84 percent.</p>
<p>Denouncing opposition claims of fraud, Pozo said the
recount was historic and fully transparent. The head of
the CNE also said that the recount was "100 percent of
ballot objections. There is no random and proportional
count here. This is the count of the ballots that the
political organizations presented."</p>
<p>The recount, which took place at the Rumiñahui General
Coliseum in the capital of Quito, had more than three
thousand people and 24 delegates from international
observation missions.</p>
<p>A total of 3,865 ballots were reviewed, which represent
1,275,450 votes, or 11.2 percent of the total votes
across the country and abroad. These are the ballots
that both Alianza Pais and CREO-SUMA presented
documentation and legal complaints against.</p>
<p>CNE officials completed the scanning process of the
recounted ballots and added the reports to the final
tally. The process was open to the public and included
the presence of political parties, military and
police and international observers. </p>
<p>The CNE counted vote by vote if the ballots had
inconsistencies, meaning the sum did not add up to the
official transcripts, or that a member of the voting
table didn't sign the final report.</p>
<p>Paul Salazar, CNE member, said the presence of local
and international observers from the Association of
World Election Bodies, the Organization of American
States and the Union of South American Nations, as well
as political parties ensure the process was transparent.</p>
<p>"We have moved forward on all the appeals presented by
both parties, in a transparent way," Salazar told
teleSUR. "We want political parties to be certain and
confident that above all the will of the Ecuadoreans
expressed in their vote is respected," said Salazar.</p>
<p>Despite the opposition requesting the recount after
losing the elections, they failed to send any delegates
to observe the process. A group of around 20 supporters
of candidate Guillermo Lasso were outside the coliseum
shouting and blocking traffic.</p>
<p>"I know they're outside, unfortunately, they should be
here, seeing that the process has been going on without
any problems," said Salazar.</p>
<p>Banker-turned-candidate Lasso also alleged there was
electronic fraud during the elections and that he
wouldn't accept the results, despite the rest of Latin
America, as well as the OAS, already having done so.
Lasso says he wants all the votes from the election,
even those without inconsistencies, to be counted again.</p>
<p>Ricardo Valverde, an observer from the Inter-American
Union of Electoral Bodies, said the observers had the
opportunity to be in contact with all political parties
and ensure their technical work.</p>
<p>"We have been in all the phases, since the first round
and we reiterate the certainty that the actions of the
National Electoral Council have been adequate," Valverde
told teleSUR.</p>
<p>Pozo added during the opening ceremony of the recount
process, "No one can be misinformed, we have nothing to
hide here. This false myth of fraud is an attack against
the dignity of a whole country."</p>
<p>Pozo said last week that CREO had presented an appeal
to nullify the elections and even wanted the recount
process to be suspended.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>