The scrutiny went slower than expected and the computer system made it impossible to see the results in real time, so it took more than six hours from the closing of the voting to learn about some trends for the charges in dispute.

More than 5,000 positions and the eight questions of the referendum were submitted to vote, that´s why the CNE warned that the count would take time.

It was expected to have specific information regarding the mayors of the more than 200 municipalities two hours after the closing of the polling stations, but the period lasted longer than expected.

Regarding the referendum, the preliminary data -only 3.34 percent of the scrutinized tallies- point to a rejection in all the questions, unlike what was indicated by the previous surveys on the proposals of President Guillermo Lasso, which were rejected at the time by social sectors.

The president had prepared an event to celebrate and announced a pronouncement for Sunday night, but given the data he preferred to wait.

Analysts consider that these elections serve to assess popular support for the main political forces in the country ahead of the 2025 presidential elections.

The former Vice Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Kintto Lucas, assured that with the results seen so far, these elections have shown great support for the Citizen Revolution party in the majority of the country and the popular support that former President Rafael Correa has is clear.

jrr/llp/npg/avr