On 15 October, IOM served as an international observer of the first
electoral process abroad for Ecuador's presidential elections. A
second round will be held on November 26, and IOM will also observe
the electoral process.

IOM’s team of 10 observers were located in the cities with
the highest number of registered voters: Madrid, Murcia and
Barcelona in Spain; Milan, Rome and Genoa in Italy, as well as New
York and New Jersey in the United States.

At the same time, in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, IOM
observers verified the processing of votes from around the world as
they were transmitted to Supreme Electoral Tribunal by fax and/or
email.

"According to IOM’s observation, the Out of Country Voting
performed for the first time for the Ecuadorian presidential
elections, went smoothly, with some exceptions, and with more than
141,400 registered voters participating, it was a good turn out,"
noted Alejandro Guidi, IOM’s chief of mission in Ecuador.

In this regard, the preliminary reports received by
out-of-country observers revealed that the process was carried out
without major problems. However, some problems arose when numbers
of non-registered Ecuadorians attempted to vote. In Murcia, some 25
individuals suffered minor injuries following scuffles at busy
polling stations.

Following the first round, two candidates have passed to the
second round on 26 November - Alvaro Noboa, from the party PRIAN,
with 26.77 per cent of the vote, and Rafael Correa, from Alianza
País, with 23.29 per cent.

Correa has publicly declared that irregularities have been
committed against his candidacy during the tallying of votes. These
claims could affect the electoral process in the second round.

For more information please contact:

Maria Isabel Moncayo

IOM Quito

Tel. 593.2.2444926

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