At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Ecuador

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Fabian ALARCON Rivera *
• Head of Government: President Fabian ALARCON Rivera
• Assembly: Ecuador has a unicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) with 121 seats.

* A second round is necessary if no single candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 4-year term.
• In the National Congress (Congreso Nacional) 121 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** For this election, 101 members were elected by provincial vote and 20 members were elected by national vote. The number of seats elected by provincial vote was raised from 70 to 101 since the May 1996 election. The number of seats elected by national vote was raised from 12 to 20. The next election, scheduled for 2002, will be to elect provincial deputies only. National deputeis will no longer be elected. Currently, all members in the National Congress are elected for a four and one-half year term.

Main Candidates in the Second Round of the Presidential race:

• Jamil MAHUAD
  • Party: Popular Democracy (PD)
• Alvaro NOBOA
  • Party: Roldosist Party of Ecuador (PRE)

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

• Jamil MAHUAD
  • Party: Popular Democracy (PD)
• Alvaro NOBOA
  • Party: Roldosist Party of Ecuador (PRE)
• Freddy EHLERS
  • Party: Pachakutik-New Country Coalition (P-NP)
• Rosalía ARTEAGA Serrano
  • Party: National Alliance (AN)
• María EUGENIA Lima
  • Party: Popular Democratic Movement (MPD)

Last Presidential election:

• The last presidential election was held on May 19 and July 7 1996. In this election, Abdalá BUCARAM Ortiz received 54.47% of the vote and thus defeated Jaime NEBOT Saadi, his closest competitor with 45.53% of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 12,163,887 (1998)
• Registered Voters: 7,072,496 ( 1998 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 6,062,350 (1998)

·         Is Ecuador a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Ecuador ratified CEDAW: Yes (9 November 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 21 (following the 1998 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 88 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Ecuador a signatory to CRPD: Yes 30 March 2007

·         Has Ecuador ratified CRPD: 3 April 2008

·         Population with a disability: 1,824,583 (est.)