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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Ecuador presidential vote may head to run-off |
| 2006-10-16 |
| An Ecuadorean banana tycoon and an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez appeared headed to a November run-off after neither candidate won Sunday's presidential election outright, two exit polls showed. Rafael Correa, a former finance minister who has rattled investors with talk of debt default, had led the race for the presidency but banana mogul Alvaro Noboa gained some momentum in the last weeks of campaigning with his free-market platform. A Cedatos Gallup poll showed Noboa with 27.2 percent of votes and Correa with 25.4 percent after first round voting while a Informe Confidencial showed Noboa with 28.5 percent of votes and Correa with 26.5 percent. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the votes on Sunday or 40 percent of votes with a 10 percentage point advantage, a second round will be held on November 26 between the two top contenders. Official results were expected later on Sunday. |
| Posted by:Fred |