[5] In first round results, Andrés Arauz had a significant but not large enough lead to avoid a runoff with Lasso, who had narrowly beaten third-place finisher Yaku Pérez.

Although he was more than 10% ahead of his nearest rival, Guillermo Lasso of the Creating Opportunities party, he was short of the 40% threshold required to avoid a run-off, and a second round was held on 2 April.

[21] Francis Fukuyama described 2020 as having brought "mostly bad news regarding the state of global democracy" in a Wall Street Journal article on 15 Dec of the same year, specifically citing Ecuador as an example of "severe crises of authority" due to the economic recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[24] Alongside the presidential and legislative elections, a referendum was held in the city of Cuenca, asking voters whether to prohibit mining near five different rivers to protect the ecosystem.

[31] Arauz has promised to scrap the current International Monetary Fund (IMF) austerity plan approved by the incumbent president, stating it will undermine Ecuadorian families and growth and that it has been overly favorable to creditors.

He wants to respect existing mining concessions, but would seek greater community participation and conduct reviews of compliance with environmental and investment plans.

[34] Electoral authorities announced on 5 February that Arauz, who then led in the polls, would not be allowed to vote because his main residency is registered in Mexico where he completed his PhD.

[36][37] Lasso proposes a government plan focused on job creation, promising that through the opening of the market and relaxation of hiring, it will be possible to create 2 million new jobs in the country, promote foreign investment, economic liberalization, greater partnership between the public and private sectors, economic reactivation through the reduction of taxes, implementation of free zones, concession the management of public companies to the private sector, fight against corruption and guarantee a better public health service coordinated by its vice-presidential candidate Alfredo Borrero through the concession of these services to the private sector.

[38][39] He also adopted proposals from Social Christian leader Jaime Nebot like the implementation of 40,000 free internet points throughout the country, public telemedicine application and proposed 400,000 poor families in the country receive a free computer, in addition to focusing on public policies on promotion and training in technology and use of networks for study.

[43] Indigenous activist and former prefect of Azuay Province, Yaku Pérez Guartambel is the candidate for the Pachakutik Plurinational Unity Movement – New Country (MUPP).

[46] Pérez has proposed a ban on all mining activity and to limit oil extraction, and has been critical of China's policies around extractivism and human rights.

[69][70] Lasso received the backing from first-round candidates Pedro Freile of the Amigo movement, Lucio Gutiérrez of Sociedad Patriótica, César Montúfar of Alianza Honestidad, Gustavo Larrea of Democracia Sí, Guillermo Celi of SUMA and Paúl Carrasco of Juntos Podemos.

[66] Preliminary results indicated that Andrés Arauz had a significant lead, but his vote total did not reach the 40% required to avoid a runoff, where he will face off against the second-place candidate.

The group, including Yaku Pérez, arrived in the capital 23 February, delivering a large number of documents that they claimed indicated irregularities in the National Electoral Council (CNE in Spanish).

[76] Arauz acknowledged the defeat and said he would call the winner Lasso the following day to do so personally and show him that "[his] democratic convictions of being able to continue contributing to the development of the country when it is about benefiting the majority of our people and to oppose constructively and responsibly when it seeks to simply attend to privileges.