2025 Ecuadorian general election

General elections were held in Ecuador on 9 February 2025. Incumbent president Daniel Noboa is seeking re-election after his 2023 victory. He will face leftist candidate Luisa González in the runoff scheduled on 13 April 2025, as no candidate secured a majority in the first round. The elections also include the selection of members for the National Assembly, Assemblies of the 21 Provinces of Ecuador and representatives for the Andean Parliament which will serve a full four-year term.
The 2025 election follows an early election held in 2023 after former President Guillermo Lasso invoked the 'muerte cruzada', just days before a congressional impeachment vote. That constitutional mechanism dissolved the National Assembly and triggered a snap election. In that election, Daniel Noboa was elected to complete Lasso’s unfinished term, which runs until May 2025.
The 2025 election sees Ecuador returning to its regular electoral schedule and will determine the president and vice president for a full four-year term and members of the National Assembly.
The president is elected using a modified two-round system, with a candidate required to get over 50% of the vote, or get over 40% of the vote and be 10 points ahead of their nearest rival, to be elected in the first round. The president is limited to two consecutive four-year terms. However, Noboa is currently serving the remaining term of Guillermo Lasso, whose invoking of muerte cruzada called for the 2023 snap general elections and his early conclusion of his presidency.
Members of the National Assembly are elected by three methods. Fifteen are elected by closed list proportional representation in a nationwide constituency. Six are elected by overseas voters (two each from Canada/United States, Latin America and Asia/Europe/Oceania). The remaining 116 members are elected from multi-member constituencies by closed list proportional representation, with all seats allocated using the Webster method. Members of the National Assembly are limited to two four-year terms, regardless if they are consecutive or not. There are gender quotas for the party lists, meaning there is alternation between men and women. There are no quotas for minority representation.
The following candidates have officially submitted their candidacy through the CNE and were eliminated in the first round of voting:
The following pre-candidates have also been selected in the primaries of the national parties and are eligible for inscription but have not been notable enough due to lack of coverage or not being present in a national opinion poll:
The following notable individuals have been the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy but have publicly denied interest in running or were rejected as pre-candidates and declined to pursue their candidacies.
Opinion polls conducted since the 2023 election are listed below. Results for candidates in first place are in bold and have their party color as a background. Results for candidates who would make it to a second round (if the first-placed candidate would not reach either 50% or 40% with a 10-point lead) are also in bold.
A three-day ban on alcohol was imposed beginning on 7 February, with 20 people subsequently being arrested for violating it. On election day, the government deployed armoured vehicles and soldiers carrying machine guns to secure polling booths while the country's land borders were closed. In Guayaquil, one person died inside a voting centre after suffering a heart attack before he could vote. Daniel Noboa's behaviour during the official campaign period was criticized by the suspended Vice President and the opposition. He faced accusations of misusing public funds, engaging in Lawfare against his detractors and exploiting various government institutions to bolster his campaign. There had been criticism regarding his social media advertising, which allegedly utilized bots and fake accounts funded by public resources.
A legal dispute has been ongoing since Noboa's refusal to relinquish his office during the official electoral period, which was intended for his vice president, Verónica Abad Rojas. Noboa told Congress stating, "Today, I will be President of Ecuador until 5 p.m. and will resume office at 11:59 p.m." while he attended political rallies. On other occasions, he had his secretary inform Congress that she was temporarily assuming the presidency. Abad had previously been suspended in November 2024, by the labor ministry for 150 days. Her suspension was lifted by a judge in December 2025, ordering the labor ministry to give her an apology for the suspension. On 30 March 2025, President Daniel Noboa caused controversy for ignoring the Constitutional Court and appointing Cynthia Gellibert by decree as Vice President, suspending Abad once again, who was disenfranchised for two years by the TCE in a 3-2 decision issued in a gender-based political violence counterclaim filed by Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld following Abad’s initial lawsuit against Noboa and others for alleged harassment. Analysts said Noboa was focused on institutional stability and a leadership aligned with his vision of government, which reinforced his political strategy in the wake of this election. The National Assembly might refuse to recognize Gellibert as vice-president.
A concern is the inaction or apparent acquiescence of the CNE, the Constitutional Tribunal (Corte Constitutional del Ecuador [es]) and the Electoral Disputes Court (TCE) regarding violations of the electoral law. On 19 February, the TCE fined Abad $9,400 for 'precocious political proselytism' as a mayoral candidate in Cuenca in 2023.
Preliminary results in the first round showed no candidate in the presidential election had won an outright majority. Daniel Noboa received 44.17% of the vote, followed by Luisa González at 43.97%. Turnout was estimated at around 82%. On 24 February 2025, the Plenary of the CNE approved the numerical results of the 2025 general elections. After approval, three days have been given for political organizations to file appeals with the CNE or the TCE if they consider it necessary. The final results for the presidential candidates were released on 12 March 2025. Luisa Gonzalez achieved 44% (4,510,860 votes) and Daniel Noboa 44.17% (4,527,606 votes). The difference between then was of 16,746 votes.
After the results, ADN cancelled a planned party celebration in a hotel in northern Quito, and Noboa did not make public declarations. The next day, he posted a written statement on Twitter thanking his voters. González, in a party meeting in Quito, said she would have dialogues with the other candidates. In the context of historically unprecedented polarization in the National Assembly between left- and right-wing political factions, the nine elected Pachakutik deputies play a crucial role. The Citizen's Movement can only achieve an absolute majority of 76 seats by forming a formal alliance with the Pachakutik Party. On the other hand, Noboa can secure a majority if he obtains support from at least one dissident deputy from the radical opposition.
At 5 p.m. on election day, Diego Tello Flores, a senior high-ranking official and a candidate for the position of judge, announced the results of a post-electoral voter poll. He claimed to be the only one of the four pollsters authorized by his former employer, the CNE, to conduct this poll. According to his findings, Daniel Noboa was leading Luisa González by nearly 8 points, securing 50.12% of the votes and winning the election in the first round. This announcement led to significant controversy, with officials from the Citizen Revolution Movement accusing him of fraud, as such polls typically have a minimal margin of error. Tello reiterated in a live interview on Teleamazon that he had been compensated by the firm Estrategas and acted independently from the government. However, Estrategas quickly released a statement denying the company had paid him and that it had any participation in that particular poll. In the aftermath of the Tello Flores poll, Rafael Correa and Andrés Arauz expressed concerns about a potential coup attempt by Noboa who appeared to be receiving behind-the-scenes support from like-minded figures within the CNE, TCE, and CC, as well as from the police, military, and media. However their claims did not come to happen, and the run-off elections are proceeding as usual.
On 11 February, in his first interview after the elections, Noboa claimed he had evidence of fraud, which he alleged was confirmed by an Organization of American States report. However, officials from the OAS dismissed this claim, clarifying that no abnormalities had been detected at that time. Noboa also alleged that armed groups associated with drug trafficking were intentionally released from prisons to intimidate voters into supporting the Citizens' Revolution. This claim was dismissed by National Assembly President Viviana Veloz, as well as by Luisa Gonzalez and Rafael Correa. On 17 February, Andrés Arauz filed a formal demand with the Electoral Disputes Tribunal (TCE; Tribunal Contencioso Electoral [es]) to contest the results of 700 polling station minutes from Esmeraldas Province, as well as hundreds from Sucumbíos Province, saying that it would be sufficient to secure the election of two National Deputies, increasing the number of NA seats for the Citizens Revolution party from 67 to a total of 69. The CNE must resolve all appeals and announce the final results of the 9 February elections by 22 March 2025.
On 12 February, Leonidas Iza categorically rejected any negotiations with Noboa's party, the ADN. He announced that several meetings would take place within CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador) and its political arm, the Pachakutik Party, to determine their stance on a potential alliance with the Citizens’ Revolution for the second presidential round and beyond. On 13 February, Diego Borja, the vice-presidential candidate for Citizens Revolution, expressed a desire to initiate a joint program with Pachakutik. The primary objective is to establish a National Constituent Assembly that includes the proposal to redefine Ecuador as a Plurinational State, akin to Bolivia. On 19 February, Leonidas Iza announced the convocation of an Expanded Grand Council for 7 March 2025, where indigenous peoples will make the final decision on currently debated proposals for a programmatic political alliance with the Citizens' Revolution Movement.