Ecuador presidential hopeful widens lead in election campaign: Poll

A Cedatos Gallup poll said on Saturday that Ecuador's leftist candidate Rafael Correa had widened his lead over his rivals in the upcoming presidential election.

The presidential hopeful gained 26 percent of voting intentions, four points up from a previous survey, while center-left candidate Leon Roldos, Correa's closest rival, dropped one point to 18 percent, the latest poll showed.

The country's banana magnate Alvaro Noboa was trailing in third place with 11 percent of support, with conservative Cynthia Viteri in the fourth with 10 percent.

The poll, which was conducted from Wednesday to Friday among 3,360 participants, has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The Ecuadorian presidential election is scheduled to be held on Oct. 15.

Correa, the former economy minister, promised to overhaul a political system widely seen as corrupt and inept, to dissolve a widely unpopular Congress and to increase control over energy resources.

Recent polls showed more than half of the 9 million voters were still undecided on whom to choose in the election.

A runoff will be held on Nov. 26 if no candidate wins at least 40 percent of the vote and secures a 10 percentage point advantage over the closest rival in the October ballot.

Source: Xinhua