Ecuador votes for 8th president in 10 years

Despite Sunday's intense heat, Ecuadorians on Sunday turned out in droves to vote for their eighth president in 10 years, and the 41st since the nation became a republic in 1830.

Voters reached 36,000 polling stations early. So much so that, a mere two hours after the 7:00 a.m. start of polling preliminary results were available.

Voters have five papers to mark: one choosing a president and vice-president; one choosing deputies for the national legislature; one for Andean parliament deputies; and one each for two different types of local councilors.

Only two candidates appear to have a realistic chance of winning the presidency, but 13 individuals are campaigning for the four-year mandate, which runs from 2007 to 2011.

Rafael Correa, 43, of the National Alliance Movement (PAiS) leads opinion polls with more than 30 percent of the vote in one recent survey. However, he needs to win 40 percent to get an upper hand over his nearest opponent, or more than 50 percent to win the election in one round.

Ecuador has programmed a second round of the vote, between the top two candidates, on Nov. 26 if no candidate meets this criterion.

Correa, who has repeatedly said he can win in one round, is among many who has alleged electoral irregularities. Ecuador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal has rejected the possibility of fraud, and said more than 3,000 foreign and domestic observers will guarantee the legitimacy of the election.

Each polling station has two ballot boxes: one for the president and domestic legislature, the other for all the others.

Renewed National Institutional Action Party candidate, millionaire businessman Alvaro Noboa, polls around 25 percent of the vote is the most likely to face Correa in a run off, while Democratic Left Alliance candidate Leon Roldos, who describes himself as center-left, is close behind in third place.

Ecuador's president will take power on Jan. 15 next year, inheriting a country that is rich in natural resources, but with 60 percent of the population suffering from poverty.

Source: Xinhua