On Sunday, February 7th, millions of Ecuadorians headed to the polls to cast their vote for Ecuador’s next president. Residents from the age of 18 to 65 are required to vote or pay a fine, but many people are eager to see a change in the presidency this year.
Many have to wait for hours in long lines to throw their support behind a candidate; sadly, they will have to repeat the process in a few months. No one candidate received enough votes to be declared a winner, so the top two candidates will be heading to a runoff. The winner of the first round was a young, leftist protégée of now ex-president Rafael Correa.
His name is Andrés Arauz. He is promising to increase government programs and spending on the way to boosting Ecuador’s economy. He will either be faced by a conservative rival, Guillermo Lasso, or an Indigenous environmental activist, Yaku Pérez.