The CNE opens electoral audits for Borbón and the Miss Ecuador parish

The Plenary of the National Electoral Council (CNE) approved the call for the audit process of political organizations for the election of the mayor and councilors of the Borbón canton, in Esmeraldas, and the members of the Miss Ecuador rural parish board, in Shushufindi, Sucumbíos. The decision is contained in Resolution PLE-CNE-1-21-9-2026, adopted on September 21, 2026, and published in the Official Registry, Second Supplement No. 375, on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, in section I.

The regulatory framework of the call

The call is based on the Regulation for the Audit of Political Organizations in Electoral Processes, issued via Resolution PLE-CNE-1-6-7-2020, dated July 6, 2020, which regulates the audit procedures carried out by registered political organizations and seeks to guarantee the transparency and reliability of the operational phases of the elections.

The process follows a sequence of decisions by the Plenary:

• Resolution PLE-CNE-3-28-7-2026, dated July 28, 2026: start of the electoral period for the election of members of the Miss Ecuador rural parish board.
• Resolution PLE-CNE-4-28-7-2026, dated July 28, 2026: start of the electoral period for the election of the mayor and councilors of Borbón.
• Resolution PLE-CNE-5-28-7-2026, dated July 28, 2026: approval of the Electoral Calendar for both processes.
• Resolution PLE-CNE-3-16-9-2026, dated September 16, 2026: approval of the General Audit Plan.

Both territories were recently created: the Law for the Creation of the Borbón Canton was published in the Official Registry, Fifth Supplement No. 323, on July 10, 2026, while the Miss Ecuador rural parish was created by Municipal Ordinance No. GADMCSHFD-CM-2026-007-O, of the Autonomous Decentralized Municipal Government of the Shushufindi canton, published in the Official Registry, Special Edition No. 1497, on July 1, 2026.

Five days to register auditors

The CNE calls upon legally registered political organizations to designate a lead auditor and their respective alternate. Two or more organizations may designate a common auditor, and in no case will more than one auditor per organization be accredited.

The enabling documentation will be received at the General Secretariat of the CNE, at the Provincial Electoral Delegations, or at the Consular Offices of Ecuador abroad, within a term of five (5) days starting from the day following the publication of the call. Registrations outside of this period will not be accepted.

The requirements for applicants are:

• Be Ecuadorian and be in possession of participation rights.
• Be designated by the legal representative of the political organization or, in case of agreement, by all legal representatives.
• Accredit knowledge and professional experience of at least one year in matters related to the processes or systems that will be audited.

Along with the registration form, a copy of the identity card and voting certificate of the legal representative and the designated auditor will be required, certified copies of experience and, if applicable, a certified copy of the agreement of wills for the designation of a common auditor.

Functions, induction and publication

Accredited auditors must participate in the processes subject to control according to the schedule of the General Audit Plan, attend workshops convened by the CNE, issue written findings reports when they do not coincide with the specific reports of the audit team, review those reports, make correct use of the resources provided, and act with diligence and probity. The absence of one or several auditors will not prevent the development of the process.

The process will begin with an induction workshop for accredited auditors, on the date set in the schedule of the General Audit Plan. The call will be published on the institutional web portal and notified in the electoral mailboxes and email addresses registered by the political organizations.

If a registration does not meet the requirements, the General Secretariat will reject it; the organization will then have one day to present a new delegate, and the qualification report must be issued on the day following the receipt of that documentation.

Voting and validity

The resolution was approved in Ordinary Session No. 078-PLE-CNE-2026, held virtually, with the votes in favor of Master José Cabrera Zurita, president; Master Esthela Acero Lanchimba, vice president; Engineer Enrique Pita García; and Master José Merino Abad. Doctor Elena Nájera Moreira abstained. The certification corresponds to Doctor Betty Consuelo Báez Villagómez, general secretary of the CNE.

The call entered into force upon its approval by the Plenary, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry.

With this call, the calendar for two unprecedented local electoral processes formally begins: the first canton created in Esmeraldas in decades and a rural parish in Sucumbíos that will elect its members for the first time. The accreditation of auditors is the first filter of citizen control over the operational phases of those elections, so political organizations have five days to ensure their presence in the monitoring of the process.

Source: Official Registry, Second Supplement No. 375, Wednesday, September 23, 2026, section I, p. 34 (official reference: Resolution PLE-CNE-1-21-9-2026).