At stake in this election:

• 100 seats in the National Congress (Congreso Nacional)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Gustavo NOBOA Bejarano *
• Head of Government: President Gustavo NOBOA Bejarano
• Assembly: Ecuador has a unicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) with 100 seats.

* President NOBOA Bejarano replaced Jamil MAHAUD following a coup in January 2000.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 4-year term.
• In the National Congress (Congreso Nacional) 100 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system.***

*** 100 members are elected from the 22 provinces. The number of representatives for each province varies, as it is proportional to their population based on the last census.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Popular Democracy (DP)
  • Leader: Ramiro RIVERA
  • Seats won in last election: 32
  • Seats won in this election: 4
• Party: Social Christian Party (PSC)
  • Leader: Jaime NEBOT Saadi
  • Seats won in last election: 27
  • Seats won in this election: 24
• Party: Ecuadorian Rolodist Party (PRE)
  • Leader: Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz
  • Seats won in last election: 24
  • Seats won in this election: 15
• Party: Party of the Democratic Left (PID)
  • Leader: Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos
  • Seats won in last election: 18
  • Seats won in this election: 16
• Party: Pluri-National Pachakutik Movement - New Country (MUPP-NP)
  • Leader: Rafael PANDAM
  • Seats won in last election: 9
  • Seats won in this election: 10
• Other Parties and Independents
  • Seats won in this election: 28

Last Legislative election:

• The last legislative election held May 31, 1998.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 13,072,056 (2002)
• Registered Voters: 8,154,125 (2002)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 6,521,540 (2002)

·         Is Ecuador a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Ecuador ratified CEDAW: Yes (9 November 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 16 (following the 2002 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 88 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Ecuador a signatory to CRPD: Yes 30 March 2007

·         Has Ecuador ratified CRPD: 3 April 2008

·         Population with a disability: 1,960,808 (est.)