Electoral officials explain how stranded candidates can change organizations before registration opens in August.

Candidates left without a political organization following the suspensions of the Citizen Revolution and Amigo movements may still reach the ballot in Ecuador’s coming local elections, provided their previous registrations are removed from the National Electoral Council’s computer system.

The clarification has opened a narrow but potentially important route for politicians aligned with former President Rafael Correa, whose movement cannot currently nominate candidates under its own name. Several had turned to Amigo as an alternative electoral platform, only to see that organization suspended as well.

The uncertainty dominated part of a national advisory council held Thursday, July 23rd, in Quito, where representatives of ten political parties and movements sought assurances about candidate registration, campaign controls and the stability of political organizations during the election period.

The meeting took place less than two weeks before candidate registration is scheduled to begin on August 2nd. The registration window will remain open through August 17th, leaving affected candidates and organizations with little time to negotiate new arrangements.

Computer records create the immediate obstacle

Juan Carlos González, the CNE’s national director of Political Organizations, explained that the principal barrier facing Amigo’s precandidates is administrative rather than permanent.

The electoral computer system prevents a person from appearing simultaneously as a precandidate for more than one organization. As long as an aspirant remains linked electronically to Amigo, an attempted registration by another party or movement would be rejected automatically.

Amigo must therefore request the cancellation and deletion of the forms produced during its internal primary process. Once those records are removed, the political relationship created by the earlier preregistration ends and the candidate becomes eligible to seek nomination elsewhere.

The affected aspirants would still have to comply with residency rules, political-rights requirements, disqualifications and every other condition imposed on candidates for local office. Removal of the earlier form does not guarantee acceptance of a new candidacy; it merely clears the computer-system restriction that would otherwise block it.

The CNE’s explanation also drew a distinction involving formal resignations. While one account suggested every precandidate must resign and have that resignation accepted before changing organizations, electoral officials indicated that the formal resignation procedure applies particularly to candidates participating through alliances. The essential step for those registered by the suspended Amigo movement is the removal of their existing electronic forms.

Two suspensions reshape the electoral field

Citizen Revolution, list 5, was provisionally suspended for nine months earlier this year amid a confidential investigation involving suspected money laundering and alleged irregular campaign financing. The measure prevented the movement from using its own legal identity to nominate candidates in the upcoming contest.

Its leaders subsequently looked for agreements with other organizations, with Amigo, list 16, emerging as one of the principal alternatives. Several Correista figures participated in Amigo’s internal selection process before that movement encountered a similar legal problem.

On July 17th, the Electoral Disputes Tribunal ordered Amigo’s provisional suspension for nine months after admitting a complaint presented by acting Attorney General Carlos Leonardo Alarcón. The case is also connected to a preliminary investigation into suspected money laundering.

The decision arrived shortly before the deadline for registering electoral alliances, sharply reducing the time available to reorganize candidacies. It also raised wider concerns among parties that feared judicial action could disrupt their participation after they had already completed internal primaries.

CNE officials emphasized that Amigo’s suspension did not result from an administrative investigation initiated by the electoral council. The council implemented an order issued by the tribunal, which exercises judicial authority in electoral disputes.

Socialists acknowledge talks with Correista leaders

The Ecuadorian Socialist Party (PSC) has emerged as one possible destination for some Citizen Revolution candidates.

Party president Gustavo Vallejo acknowledged that detailed conversations were underway with Correista representatives in six to eight provinces. However, he said any broader agreement would have to be considered by the Socialist Party’s National Council before becoming official.

Other organizations have ruled out offering their lists. Gustavo Larrea, national director of the Movimiento Futuro party, expressed concern about the legal measures imposed on Citizen Revolution and Amigo but said his organization would not accept their candidates.

Larrea said Futuro already had its own nominees and did not share the Correista political program, drawing a line between defending democratic participation and entering an electoral arrangement with a rival movement.

Election name and voting date cause confusion

The process continues to be officially described as the 2027 sectional and Council for Citizen Participation election because the officials chosen will serve during the 2027-2031 period. The original calendar set voting for February 14, 2027, but the CNE later updated the schedule and moved election day forward to November 29, 2026.

Voters will elect provincial prefects and vice prefects, mayors, urban and rural council members, parish board representatives and members of the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control.

During the advisory session, party representatives also discussed compliance with gender-parity rules, controls on campaign advertising and spending, and access to the vote-counting system.

CNE councilor Enrique Pita rejected claims that the council could disregard decisions issued by the Electoral Disputes Tribunal. He urged political organizations to monitor the election, participate in oversight procedures and examine the computer system used to process results.

Councilor Elena Nájera, meanwhile, openly questioned the conduct of electoral judges, reflecting the institutional tension surrounding the suspensions. As the August registration period approaches, the immediate battle is shifting from the courtroom to negotiations among parties, where candidates without an active movement must secure a new place on the ballot before the window closes.