Ecuador election officials will recount nearly 1.3m votes cast in the Andean nation’s presidential election, though opposition leader Guillermo Lasso on Friday dismissed the gesture as a farce that would do nothing to quell accusations of fraud. The National Electoral Council announced late on Thursday it would recount all ballots contested by both parties, about 10% of the total vote. Official results from the 2 April election showed conservative former banker Lasso lost by less than three percentage points to President Rafael Correa’s handpicked successor, Lenín Moreno. International observers including the Organization of American States (OAS) have said they found no irregularities, though Lasso claims his campaign found numerous inconsistencies and has refused to accept the official results.
Council president Juan Pablo Pozo has said reviews showed no evidence of fraud but said he agreed to a recount for “the tranquility of the country”.
… “We believe this election was rigged,” Andres Paez, Lasso’s running mate, wrote in column published in the New York Times. “Once again, the National Electoral Council has proved itself loyal to the populist government of President Correa.”
Pozo has vehemently disputed those claims, saying the council reviewed nearly 300,000 ballots and found they matched the official result. “We have nothing to hide,” he said in a statement.
Full Article: Ecuador presidential election: 10% of votes to be recounted | World news | The Guardian.