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Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was reelected in Sunday's general elections, according to preliminary results released by National Electoral Council (CNE).
Based on unfinished ballot count, Correa carried 56.36 percent of the votes against 24.09 percent for his closest challenger, former banker Guillermo Lasso.
Correa won in the first-round of Ecuador's presidential poll on Sunday, according to two exit polls giving him around 60 percent of the vote, released as polls closed in the general elections.
Ecuador's opposition candidate Guillermo Laso (C), talks to the media during the presidential elections in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Feb. 17, 2013. (Xinhua/Str)
Correa, Ecuador's socialist president since 2007, obtained the majority of the votes, followed by center-right candidate former banker Guillermo Lasso, who had obtained 23.1 percent, according to exit polls.
Third place is occupied by former president Lucio Gutierrez, with 5.5 percent, followed by banana magnate Alvaro Noboa with 3.6 percent and Mauricio Rodas with 3.3 percent.
About 11.7 million Ecuadorians were called on to vote in Sunday 's presidential and legislative elections.
An Ecuadorian soldier participates in a surveillance operation at a polling station, in Quito, capital of Ecuador, on Feb. 17, 2013. (Xinhua/Santiago Armas)
Correa received the exit polls' results accompanied by his family and his cabinet at Palacio de Carondelet, seat of the Ecuadorian government in Quito.
"Today I am most committed than ever. We can't take a single step backwards. We have the immense trust of the people to definitely change the Fatherland. May God reward you, the victory is from each and every one of you," said Correa to his followers who effusively cheered him when he went out to speak to the people from a balcony in Carondelet.
