Ecuador’s presidential election is shaping up to be a repeat of the 2023 race when voters chose a conservative young millionaire over the leftist protégé of the country’s most influential president th

Voting is mandatory in Ecuador. More than 13.7 million people are eligible to vote. On Thursday, thousands of inmates who await sentencing cast ballots at voting centers set up in more than 40 prisons.

An April presidential run-off in Ecuador will pit incumbent Daniel Noboa against leftist Luisa Gonzalez, in an unexpectedly tight contest featuring the same two candidates who were in a 2023 snap election.

Ecuadorian voters are preparing to cast their ballots for a new president for the second time in 18 months amid an unprecedented security crisis in the country.

Ecuador’s center-right President Daniel Noboa fell short of securing an outright majority in the country’s general election, according to results available on Monday, setting the stage for a run-off vote against his nearest leftist rival.

Noboa says his deployment of the military on the streets and within prisons has reduced violent deaths by 15%, led to a drastic fall in prison violence, and helped in the capture of major gang leaders.

Ecuador's April runoff election for president will test the lasting influence of former leftist President Rafael Correa when his protege, lawyer Luisa González, goes up against the conservative incumbent Daniel Noboa.