Ecuador to conduct partial recount in disputed presidential polls

Electoral body orders partial recount after meeting between two presidential candidates still vying for second place.

Ecuador’s top electoral body has said it will conduct a partial recount of February 7 presidential polls after a request from two candidates still fighting for second place. Indigenous activist Yaku Perez and right-wing former banker Guillermo Lasso filed a request for the recount on Friday, as the race to join economist Andres Arauz in an April presidential runoff remains too close to call. Diana Atamaint, president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), said there would be “a recount of 100 percent of the votes in the Guayas province”, the most populous province in the country.