Ecuadorians will this weekend elect the 130 members of the
Constituent Assembly (CA).

Following a request from Ecuador's Permanent Mission to the
United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, IOM
will act as an international observer for the out-of-country voting
of the CA Election process for Ecuadorians living in Santiago,
Chile; Milan and Rome in Italy; Madrid, Murcia and Barcelona in
Spain; the states of New Jersey and New York in the United States;
and in Venezuela.

The out-of-country voting and IOM's observer role will take
place on the day of the election, Sunday, 30 September.  IOM
has developed the forms and specific documentation which will be
used by the observers.

IOM staff in Ecuador will be present to witness the receipt of
the ballots cast outside the country that will arrive via fax at
the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (SET).  Some of the results,
due to the time difference with Europe, will arrive before the
voting concludes in Ecuador.  For this reason, it is vital
that these results remain completely confidential so that they do
not influence voting in Ecuador in any way.  IOM will also be
present for the official plenary counting of the electoral results
for the voting abroad which will take place starting Monday, 1
October.

IOM's objective is to support Ecuador's recently established
out-of-country voting process in order to guarantee the rights of
Ecuadorians abroad.

It is estimated that approximately two million Ecuadorians are
living abroad.  Of that number, 152,000 are registered to vote
in the upcoming elections. According to SET official estimates,
some 60,000 persons will participate in the elections on
Sunday.

The newly elected Constituent Assembly will have a maximum of
240 days to draft a new Constitution.  A total of 149
political parties and movements will compete in the elections.

The Presidential elections carried out last October, (second
round in November) were the first to allow Ecuadorian migrants to
participate in their country's electoral process while living
abroad.  IOM acted as the official international observer for
that election.

For further information please contact:

Ana María Guzmán

IOM Quito

Tel: +593.2.22.53.948/49

E-mail:  "mailto:aguzman@oim.org.ec">aguzman@oim.org.ec