Presidential Election, 13 April

Ecuador held the first round of its presidential election, as well as its legislative election on 9 February 2025. 

Ecuador's presidency is elected through a two-round majority system where a candidate must obtain more than 50% of valid votes to win. Otherwise, a candidate requires at least 40% of valid votes with a 10% lead over the runner up to win in the first round. If neither condition is met, the top two candidates advance to a runoff held withing 45 days of the first round ((EEAS, 2025) Moreover, voting is compulsory for Ecuadorian citizens aged 18-65, with optional participation for younger or older voters; non-voters may be subjected to administrative penalties (EEAS, 2025)

Daniel Noboa, the incumbent president, secured 44.3% of votes in the first round of voting, with opposition candidate Luisa Gonzalez of Citizen’s Revolution – Renewal Movement (RC-RETO), securing 43.8% votes leading to a run off election on 13 April 2025 (EU EOM Ecuador, 2025). 

The election for the National Assembly was led by the RC and the ADN, the country’s largest political parties (Congressional Research Service, 2025), although neither party  secured an absolute majority in the 151 seat legislature. The number of seats in the National Assembly had recently increased from 137 to 151 following the 2022 census in line with a constitutional requirement Constitution requiring members of parliament be proportional to the population (IPU Parline, 2025). 

Incumbent president, Daniel Noboa, was declared the winner with a decisive majority, securing about 55.6% of valid votes against Gonzalez’s 44.4%, as reported by the National Electoral Council ( EFE,2025). Presidential terms last four years, with the 2025 election inaugurating a new full term after Noboa had previously completed a partial term following a 2023 snap election (Wells L., 2025).

Two main bodies oversee the electoral processes in Ecuador: The National Electoral Council (Consejo Nacional Electoral, CNE) and the Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Contencioso Electoral, TCE). Together, they form the electoral branch of the Ecuadorian government. The CNE organizes and oversees elections from registering political parties to announcing results while the TCE is responsible for resolving electoral disputes. The CNE consists of five members elected by another government branch called the National Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (Consejo de Participación y Control Social) (IFES, 2013). 

Voter participation in the 2025 presidential election remained high in both rounds, reflecting strong civic engagement under Ecuador’s mandatory voting system (does not apply to people with disabilities). Turnout reached approximately 82% in the first round on 9 February 2025 and increased slightly to about 83% in the runoff held on 13 April 2025 (KCH, 2025, Prensa Latina, 2025). 

As reported by CNE, the election periods and voting days were largely orderly, with international observation missions reporting that the process was transparent, completive, and well-organized (EFE, 2025) However, as the final report of EU Election Mission observation noted, disinformation campaigns were widely spread across online platforms through proxy accounts (or Facebook proxy pages), and paid-content. For example, Luisa Gonzalez publicly contested the outcome, claiming alleged electoral fraud and requesting a recount, though no evidence supporting those allegations was presented and international observers rejected fraud claims (EFE, 2025).

 Additionally, news reported stressed the serious unrest internal environment prior to the election day. For example, less than 24 hours before the election, President Noboa declared of a state of emergency in seven provinces and in all prisons. In addition, there were reports that also indicated the incidents of violation related to electoral ban prior to the election.  La Jornanda, a news resource noted the advertising spots attacking one of the main candidates, Luisa Gonzalez, through social media networks. Also, electoral campaigns attacking the opposite candidates using Artificial Intelligence were identified (Perez O., 2025).

Ecuador’s electoral authorities prohibited voters from taking photos of ballots during the election, warning of fines ranging from $9,000 USD to $32,000 USD for violators. This follows reports from the first-round vote in February that criminal groups forced some people to vote for certain candidates and send pictures as proof (Cañizares 2025).

In terms of gender representation of the National Assembly, 83 members were men out of the elected representative and 68 were women (IPU Parline, 2025). Observation reports including EU EOM –Ecuador 2025 reported that female candidates were targeted by online hate speech and sexist attacks. For instance, the observation mission identified about 347 such attacks targeting women candidates on X (former Twitter) (EU EOM Ecuador 2025).

Since 2020, gender-based violence is named as a serious electoral violence in Ecuador(EU EOM, 2025) Civil society and observer groups also highlighted the instances of gender-based harassment raising concern for inclusive participation. In particular, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) emphasized the measures taken against Vice President Abab, which included removal from office, followed by serious violation of her political rights through misusing administrative actions, and judicial persecution of her family (OHCHR, 2025)  Female candidates and political leaders faced online hate speech and attacks throughout the campaign, including sexual insults, objectification, denigration of women’s roles, and racist or ethnic slurs on social media, with at least 347 documented instances (EU EOM, 2025).

Although voting is compulsory in Ecuador, persons with disabilities are exempt form the requirement. Nevertheless, non-discrimination and inclusiveness in elections are enshrined in electoral law, with provisions requiring accommodations for voters with special needs. During the 2025 election, the CNE organised a Voto en casa program to facilitate political rights of this group of voters.  According to the EU EOM report, this was applied only to people above 50 years old with a physical disability which prevented other people in this group from voting (EU EOM Ecuador 2025).