General Elections, 19 February 2017

Earthquake, 16 April 2016 

On 16 April 2016, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake impacted the coast of Ecuador injuring 6,000 people and killing 671. Approximately 35,000 homes were damaged, displacing 80,000 residents. An estimated 700,000 in total needed assistance as water, sanitation and healthcare infrastructure was destroyed (World Vision n.d.; CNN 2017).  

Impact on the electoral process    

Ecuador’s National Electoral Council (CNE) found that in at least 182 electoral precincts across five provinces, amounting to  5.51 per cent of all voting centres, facilities for voters were out of action. The CNE therefore considered renting new premises and evaluated which roads were still accessible. Temporary structures—voting tents—on relevant streets were another option proposed. The CNE had until 9 November to make any decisions on electoral precincts, while voters had until 31 July to register any change of address (though in the latter was extended in practice for displaced persons). The budget for the election did not increase despite the new needs created by the earthquake (La Nacion 2016). Candidate campaign messages also focused on resettling the displaced population and strengthening the economy after the earthquake’s devastating impacts (Gaffar 2017).  

In 2017 voter turnout was 81.74 per cent, slightly higher than the 80.84 per cent recorded in the previous (2013) and 81 per cent in the subsequent (2021) general elections (International IDEA n.d.).