Both contenders are currently intensifying their provincial tours to win votes, especially among the undecided, as the runoff election on Sunday, April 13, looks very close, according to polls.

González presented key proposals focused on women’s economic and social empowerment during her visit to the city of Guayaquil, promising credit lines of up to $45,000 for Ecuadorian women in urban and rural areas. She also proposed reopening and building Child Development Centers, as well as judicial units specializing in gender violence.

In turn, Noboa focused his agenda this Monday on technical meetings with transporters, students, and representatives of the industrial sector in the province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and later in Guayaquil, where he reiterated his plans to draft a new Constitution and his proposals on security and the economy.

The campaign phase will conclude next Thursday, April 10th, when massive closing campaign events are expected with the protagonists of the runoff election and their supporters.

More than 13.7 million citizens are called to the polls next Sunday.

The elections are taking place amid criticism of the current president for not requesting a leave of absence for the National Assembly campaign and allegations of alleged bias by the National Electoral Council (CNE) and other institutions.

These accusations against the electoral authority are based on the ban on the use of cell phones and photographs of ballots, which could influence the control of the vote.

Although the National Electoral Council (CNE) asserted during the electoral simulation this Sunday that there was no possibility of fraud, lawyer and analyst Mauro Andino warned the international community that there is no transparency or security in the upcoming elections.

jrr/llp/lam/avr