Polls closed and counting got under way in violence-hit Ecuador’s presidential election on Sunday, with incumbent leader Daniel Noboa tipped to win another term as president.
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Early exit polls predicted Noboa would get a little over 50 per cent of the vote, just enough to avoid a second-round run-off against leftist challenger Luisa González, who was on 42 per cent.
But it will be some hours before the actual tally is known.
Almost 14 million Ecuadorans voted under tight security, choosing who will lead their violence-wracked Andean nation through its worst crisis in half a century.
The campaigns have been dominated by concerns about the moribund economy and cartel turf wars that have transformed Ecuador from one of the safest countries in the world into one of the most dangerous.
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“The country is collapsing. The only thing I ask the new president is that they fix this mess,” said 28-year-old businessman Luis Jaime Torres as he prepared to vote in capital city Quito.