Ecuadorians vote Sunday for president after a campaign dominated by demands for safety

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Supporters of Jan Topic, presidential candidate for the Country Without Fear Coalition, cheer during a campaign event ahead of snap elections set for Aug. 20, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Supporters of presidential hopeful Yaku Perez, of the “Alianza Claro Que Se Puede,” or Of Course We Can Alliance, attend his campaign rally in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. The upcoming snap election set for Aug. 20 was called after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree in May, to avoid being impeached. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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Wearing a bulletproof vest, presidential hopeful Yaku Perez, of the “Alianza Claro Que Se Puede,” or Of Course We Can Alliance, holds a campaign rally less than two weeks after a candidate was assassinated, in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. The upcoming snap election set for Aug. 20 was called after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree in May, to avoid being impeached. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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Jan Topic, presidential candidate for the Country Without Fear Coalition, holds his daughter as he smiles during a campaign event ahead of snap elections set for Aug. 20, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Wearing a bulletproof vest, presidential hopeful Yaku Perez, right, of the “Alianza Claro Que Se Puede,” or Of Course We Can Alliance, greets supporters during a campaign rally less than two weeks after a candidate was assassinated, in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Sunday’s snap election was called after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree in May, to avoid being impeached. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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Soldiers stand guard outside the El Inca prison, as election materials arrive for detainees who are not convicted but whose cases are in process, for early voting in the presidential election in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Ecuadorians will choose a new president on Aug. 20. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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Workers from the National Electoral Council carry election materials into El Inca prison, for detainees who are not convicted but whose cases are in process, for early voting in the presidential election in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Ecuadorians will choose a new president Aug. 20. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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Wearing a bulletproof vest, Christian Zurita, second from left, who replaces slain presidential candidate Fernando Villavencencio, gives a press conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Villavicencio was shot and killed as he was leaving a campaign rally at a school in the Ecuadorian capital, less than two weeks before the Aug. 20 presidential snap election. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Wearing a bullet proof vest, Andrea Gonzalez, the running mate of slain presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, arrives for a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Villavicencio was shot and killed as he was leaving a campaign rally at a school in the Ecuadorian capital Wednesday, less than two weeks before the Aug. 20 presidential election. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)

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A man rides his motorcycle on a street with political propaganda of presidential candidate Jan Topic hanging from utility posts, in Babahoyo, Ecuador, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. Ecuador’s president declared a state of emergency in some areas after a presidential candidate was killed at a rally ahead of snap elections. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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A soldier peers into public transportation at a security check placed by the army in Duran, across a bridge from Guayaquil, Ecuador, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Ecuador’s president declared a state of emergency in some areas after a presidential candidate was killed at a rally ahead of snap elections, set for Aug. 20, after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly to avoid being impeached. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Jan Topic, presidential candidate for the Alliance for a Country Without Fear, and his wife Consuelo Guzman arrive at the presidential debate in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Ecuador goes to the polls in a presidential election on Aug. 20. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate, right, and running mate Andres Arauz, with Citizen’s Revolution Political Movement cheer during a rally ahead of snap elections, set for Aug. 20 in Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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Soldiers search a car’s driver at a security check placed by the army in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Wednesday, Aug. 16. Ecuador goes to the polls Sunday to elect a president. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Xavier Hervas, presidential candidate for Total Renovation, standing next to his wife Anastasia Baeva, speaks prior to the presidential debate in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Ecuador goes to the polls in a presidential election on Aug. 20. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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Bolivar Armijos, presidential candidate for Amigo Movement speaks prior to the presidential debate in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Ecuador goes to the polls in a presidential election on Aug. 20. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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A boy watches from behind the bars of an open electronics store as a soldier stands guard at a security check point placed by the army in Duran, across a bridge from Guayaquil, Ecuador, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Ecuador’s president declared a state of emergency in some areas after a presidential candidate was killed at a rally ahead of snap elections, set for Aug. 20, after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly to avoid being impeached. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Jan Topic, presidential candidate for the Country Without Fear Coalition, speaks during a campaign event ahead of snap elections set for Aug. 20, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Jan Topic, presidential candidate for the Country Without Fear Coalition, greets supporters as he arrives at a campaign event ahead of snap elections set for Aug. 20, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

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Wearing bulletproof vests, presidential candidate Yaku Perez, right, and his running-mate Nory Pinela, of “Alianza Claro Que Se Puede,” or Of Course We Can Alliance, stand before supporters at a campaign rally less than two weeks after a candidate was assassinated, in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. The upcoming snap election set for Aug. 20 was called after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree in May, to avoid being impeached. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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By REGINA GARCIA CANO

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorians will choose a new president Sunday, less than two weeks after the South American country was shaken by the assassination of one of the candidates — a crime that laid bare people’s fears over unprecedented violence in their once-calm nation.

The winner faces a universal demand for safety, but how the incoming administration will fund crime-fighting promises remains to be seen. Much of the country’s increasingly polarized society yearns for the prosperity seen under the presidency of Rafael Correa, now a fugitive from Ecuadorian justice, but few readily acknowledge it left the country with a huge fiscal deficit and billions in debt.

Sunday’s ballot has the names of eight candidates, including Fernando Villavicencio, the anti-corruption crusader who was killed Aug. 9 while leaving a campaign rally in Quito, the capital. His was the third and most prominent in a string of killings of political leaders this year.

Voting in Ecuador is mandatory for people ages 18 through 64.

Fears of violence in the wake of Villavicencio’s assassination could “reduce turnout because of people’s fear of even going out to vote,” said John Walsh, director for drug policy and the Andes at the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.

Some voters could choose to just pay a fine of roughly $45 rather than risking a trip to the polls.

Ecuadorian authorities attribute the country’s spike in violence over the past three years to a power vacuum triggered by the killing in 2020 of Jorge Zambrano, alias “Rasquiña” or “JL,” the leader of the local Los Choneros gang. Members carry out contract killings, run extortion operations, move and sell drugs, and rule prisons.

Los Choneros and similar groups linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels are fighting over territory, drug-trafficking routes and control, including within detention facilities, where at least 400 inmates have died since 2021.

In Guayaquil, the port city that has been the epicenter of violence, fair vendor Dalia Chang said residents’ fears for their safety kept people at home during a long holiday weekend through Sunday. Chang, 59, said she expected more sales, but her booth in a popular entertainment district was practically empty.

“People are afraid of going out, going to places, restaurants. We are living in the midst of terrible crime,” Chang said. “We can’t go anywhere because we are worried.”

Candidates promised throughout the campaign to give law enforcement more weapons, equipment and training and more resources for investigation. Their tough-on-crime proposals also include cleaning up police ranks and increasing control along the borders with Colombia and Peru, the world’s top cocaine producers.

While organized crime groups appear to have endless cash to pay for guns, bribes and more, the government is on a tight budget. The election winner will only govern 18 months but will inherit a fiscal mess in part due to declining revenues from tax collection and oil exports — on which the country largely depends.

Data from the Ministry of Finance show state coffers received $991 million from oil between January and July. That’s less than half than the $2.3 billion the state received during the same period last year. Meanwhile, tax collections this year fell by $137 million.

Jaime Carrera, an analyst with Ecuador’s Fiscal Policy Observatory, estimated that the incoming administration will need more than $10 billion annually in fiscal financing when the general budget is $31.5 billion.

Sunday’s snap election was called after President Guillermo Lasso, a conservative former banker, dissolved the National Assembly by decree in May, to avoid being impeached over allegations that he failed to intervene to end a faulty contract between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company.

Six Colombian men were arrested last week for their suspected involvement in the killing of Villavicencio, who was an independent journalist and investigated corruption in previous governments before entering politics as an anti-graft campaigner. One of his investigations led to Correa being sentenced in absentia to an eight-year prison term on corruption charges.

Correa’s protégé, Luisa González is the front-runner and plans to make Correa her adviser if she wins.

To win outright, a candidate needs 50% of the vote or at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest opponent. If needed, a runoff election would take place Oct. 15.

Electoral authorities on Wednesday approved the presidential candidacy of journalist Christian Zurita for Villavicencio’s party, but the ballots will still have the late candidate’s name because they had already been printed. González had challenged the substitution.

Candidates increased their security measures after Villavicencio’s killing. Daniel Noboa wore a bulletproof vest during last weekend’s debate. Zurita wore one too Wednesday during a news conference.

Local media reported that Noboa, his team and a National Assembly candidate were rattled Thursday by a shooting that took place as they entered a community separated from Guayaquil by a river. Shootings are frequent in Duran, where settlements house some of the area’s poorest citizens.

The Assembly candidate, Jonathan Parra, tweeted they were uninjured. Interior Minister Juan Zapata later tweeted that authorities had “ruled out an armed attack” against Noboa.

Supporters of millionaire candidate Jan Topic, whose promise of heavy handed tactics against criminals have earned him the nickname “Ecuadorian Rambo,” were bused to a campaign rally Thursday at the convention center in Guayaquil. They left purses and backpacks in the buses and went through makeshift gates manned by private security guards to enter.

Organizers kept journalists away, and guards barred an Associated Press reporter from interviewing attendees.

Zapata said more than 100,000 police and military officers are being deployed to secure the election process. He said the only restriction people will face Sunday when voting will be the inspection of backpacks.

Diana Atamaint, the president of the National Electoral Council, said law enforcement is “working to safeguard, above all, the lives of Ecuadorians, so that… we can all exercise our right to vote.”

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Associated Press writers Gonzalo Solano and Gabriela Molina in Quito, Ecuador, contributed to this report.