Ecuador Presidential Candidates Line Up

Seventeen presidential candidates have registered with the Supreme Electoral Court to take part in Ecuador’s elections slated to take place on October 15. If all the candidates participate in the elections is will be the highest number of postulants since the country returned to democracy in 1979. Among those that have registered are the front-runners, left-of-center lawyer León Roldós and right-of-center social democrat Cinthya Viteri, and three-time candidate and banana magnate, Álvaro Noboa, who elected to run at the last minute. However, former president Lucio Gutiérrez will not be standing after his proposed candidacy was denied in June by the Electoral Court. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in October, a second round is scheduled for November 26. The Electoral Court has until August 30 to announce the qualifying candidates.