The 2023 Ecuadorian local elections were held on 5 February 2023, alongside the

2023 Ecuadorian constitutional referendum A constitutional referendum was held in Ecuador on 5 February 2023, alongside local elections. The binding consultation was called on 29 November 2022 by President Guillermo Lasso. Voters were asked to approve or reject a total of eight qu ...

. These elections determined 23 prefects, 23 vice-prefects, 221

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

, 868 urban councilors, 437 rural councilors, and 4,084 principal members of the parish councils. The previous elections were held in 2019. The results were widely hailed, alongside the rejection of all constitutional referendum questions, as a rebuke of President Guillermo Lasso, who had won the

2021 Ecuadorian general election General elections were held in Ecuador on 7 February 2021, established by the National Electoral Council (CNE) as the date for the first round of the presidential election and a vote on mining in Cuenca. Incumbent president Lenín Moreno, who ...

. They were also seen as a major victory for leftist politician and former President Rafael Correa, whose

Citizen Revolution Movement The Citizen Revolution Movement ( es, Movimiento Revolución Ciudadana) is a Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Ecuador formed by supporters of former President Rafael Correa who distanced themselves from Correa's forme ...

party won nearly every key race, including the mayoral races in both

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

and Guayaquil, with this last city having been a longtime stronghold of the right (and, most specifically, the Social Christian Party) until then. More generally, the local elections were held during an escalating wave of crime and violence across Ecuador, linked by many sources to the growing influence of

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

activities in the country, which was one of the issues President Lasso had originally aimed to tackle via the aforementioned constitutional referendum. As a result of the generally increased tension, several politicians were directly attacked in the run-up to the election, with two of them being murdered: on 21 January 2023, Julio César Farachio, the

Popular Unity Movement Popular Unity Movement (Mouvement d'Unité Populaire, MUP), is a socialism, socialist political party in Tunisia. The MUP was formed by Ahmed Ben Salah in Swiss exile in 1973. Ben Salah was a trade unionist (Tunisian General Labour Union, UGTT) w ...

's candidate for mayor in the city of Salinas, was shot and killed while hosting an electoral rally; on 4 February,

Omar Menéndez ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

, the Citizen Revolution Movement's candidate for mayor in

Puerto López Puerto López (16,000 inhabitants) is a small fishing village set in an arched bay on the Pacific coast in the Ecuadorian Manabí Province. Puerto Lopéz is the Machalilla National Park headquarters. The main industries include fishing and e ...

, and one of his collaborators were shot dead by two unidentified men just a few hours before the ballots opened. Menéndez himself went on to win the election posthumously, although he was set to be replaced by another candidate from the same party.

References

2023 elections in South America Elections Local {{Ecuador-election-stub