Ecuador’s young president, Daniel Noboa, who is known for aggressive law-and-order policies and a mastery of social media, failed to win a majority of votes in his bid for re-election on Sunday, forcing a runoff election against Luisa González, the leftist he defeated in the last presidential race.
With about 96 percent of the ballots counted early on Monday morning, Mr. Noboa had received 44.37 percent of the votes cast. Ms. González, the closest of his 15 opponents, had 43.86 percent.
Polls before the election had suggested that Mr. Noboa, 37, could win a majority, making a second round of voting unnecessary. But the race proved to be tight, apparently reflecting ambivalence about Mr. Noboa’s tough-on-crime tactics in Ecuador, which has been plagued for five years by a surge in drug-related violence.
About an hour after polls closed at 5 p.m., supporters of Mr. Noboa were gathered outside a hotel in Quito, the capital, where he had been expected to speak, honking car horns, waving flags and chanting “just one round.” But by 10 p.m., they had dispersed.
Near Ms. González’s campaign headquarters at 10 p.m., a few hundred people were dancing, pouring shots of liquor and chanting, “Long live Luisa!”
In a speech to her cheering supporters, Ms. González said her campaign had captured “the feeling of a people that has been forgotten.”
