Ecuadorians Protest Election Results Outside National Electoral Council in Quito

Thousands of people, including Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates Guillermo Lasso and Andrés Páez, gathered outside the National Electoral Council in Quito, Ecuador, on April 3 to protest election results declaring Lenin Moreno the winner.The center-right Creating Opportunities candidate Lasso took on Moreno of the socialist PAIS Alliance party in the closely contested election. When it appeared Moreno had the upper hand, Lasso asked his followers via Twitter to take to the streets in protest on April 2.Late into the night of April 2, Moreno was declared the winner by state media. He also declared himself the winner via a tweet. However, many on the opposing side, including Lasso himself, disputed the result, citing voting inconsistencies.The winner of Ecuador’s elections will have to tackle not only the country’s debt crisis, but may also be responsible for determining the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been confined to Ecuador’s embassy in London since 2012. Lasso, a conservative, had said that if he won, he would evict Assange within 30 days of taking office.