The Ecuadorian government ratified this Friday its recognition of the preliminary results of last Sunday’s referendum vote, which were unfavorable, and asked the electoral authority to remove the “possible and specific” doubts that had arisen.
The Ministry of Government (Politics), in a statement, recalled that the executive has already decided on the electoral result and has recognized its defeat in the eight questions of the plebiscite which it called on security, democracy and the environment, among others.
With almost all of the votes (more than 99.07% progress), the “No” obtained between 51.73 and 58.06% of the votes in the various questions of the consultation, against the “Yes” that it reached between 41.94 and 48.27%, according to data from the National Electoral Council (CNE).
Doubts arose on Thursday evening when CNE vice-president Enrique Pita denounced an alleged computer center operating alongside the official one in the coastal province of Guayas and asked the public prosecutor’s office to investigate the matter, warning against possible irregularities in the delegation of the CNE in this jurisdiction. .
However, this morning, experts, observers and other electoral authorities have excluded the possibility that the results have been modified and endorse the smooth running of the process.
The Interior Ministry, whose head Henry Cucalón was appointed on Thursday, issued an official statement referring to the alleged irregularities.
“The national government has spoken and recognized the message of the Ecuadorian people expressed at the polls,” reads the official text signed by Cucalón.
“The CNE must, as the highest electoral authority, give an adequate and clear response to the citizens,” the ministry said after noting that “complaints regarding possible and specific irregularities must be resolved by the competent bodies to guarantee transparency of the vote and electoral freedom”.
And it is that the complaint of Pita broadcast by the television channels has generated a wave of conjectures taken up in the media and on social networks, with demands for clarity and respect for regulatory procedures in the declarations of the electoral authorities.
This Friday, the CNE delegate in Guayas, Jhon Gamboa, categorically denied that there was a parallel counting center under his command, although he admitted that they had changed the method of processing files at the request from the government and the electorate itself to present the results as quickly as possible.
The defeat conceded by the ruling party in the referendum it promoted, according to the preliminary results of the CNE, led the government of conservative Guillermo Lasso to experience one of the most complicated moments of its 21 months in power.