Ecuador's Lasso advances to presidential runoff, will face Arauz

Indigenous environmentalist candidate Yaku Perez came in third with 19.39% of the vote, 32,600 votes fewer than Lasso, the CNE said. Before the results were declared, the council denied Perez' request for a recount in 17 of the Andean country's 24 provinces on grounds of alleged fraud and manipulation of vote count data.

Ecuador's national electoral council (CNE) said on Sunday that pro-market conservative banker Guillermo Lasso obtained 19.74% of the vote in presidential elections on Feb. 7 and will advance to a runoff against leftist economist Andres Arauz on April 11. Arauz, an ally of former President Rafael Correa, won the most votes in the first round with 32.72%, shy of the margin required to win outright. Indigenous environmentalist candidate Yaku Perez came in third with 19.39% of the vote, 32,600 votes fewer than Lasso, the CNE said.

Before the results were declared, the council denied Perez' request for a recount in 17 of the Andean country's 24 provinces on grounds of alleged fraud and manipulation of vote count data. The CNE said Perez had not presented enough proof to back up the claims. Perez has since last week been marching with hundreds of indigenous Ecuadoreans through the country's central highlands toward the capital Quito to demand a recount. Other civil society groups have announced plans to demonstrate in favor of Perez next week.