section_path: Aftermath/First round/Misconduct and voting fraud allegations
section_name: Misconduct and voting fraud allegations
paragraph_text: Misconduct and voting fraud allegations
  
  On the election day, Diego Tello Flores, a senior high-ranking official, announced the results of a post-electoral voter poll. He claimed to be the only one of the four pollsters authorized by his former employer, the CNE, to conduct this poll. According to his findings, Daniel Noboa was leading Luisa González by nearly 8 points, securing 50.12% of the votes and winning the election in the first round. This announcement led to significant controversy, with officials from the Citizen Revolution Movement accusing him of fraud, as such polls typically have a minimal margin of error. Tello reiterated in a live interview on Teleamazon that he had been compensated by the firm Estrategas and acted independently from the government. However, Estrategas quickly released a statement denying the company had paid him and that it had any participation in that particular poll. In the aftermath of the Tello Flores poll, Rafael Correa and Andrés Arauz expressed concerns about a potential coup attempt by Noboa. However their claims did not come to happen, and the run-off elections proceeded as usual.
  
  On 11 February, in his first interview after the elections, Noboa claimed he had evidence of fraud, which he alleged was confirmed by an Organization of American States report. However, officials from the OAS dismissed this claim, clarifying that no abnormalities had been detected at that time. Noboa also alleged that armed groups associated with drug trafficking were intentionally released from prisons to intimidate voters into supporting the Citizens' Revolution. This claim was dismissed by National Assembly President Viviana Veloz, as well as by Luisa González and Rafael Correa. On 17 February, Andrés Arauz filed a formal demand with the Electoral Disputes Tribunal (TCE; Tribunal Contencioso Electoral) to contest the results of 700 polling station minutes from Esmeraldas Province, as well as hundreds from Sucumbíos Province, saying that it would be sufficient to secure the election of two National Deputies, increasing the number of National Assembly seats for the Citizens Revolution party from 67 to a total of 69, which was rejected.
  
  The CNE said that several people, including poll workers, were arrested during the run-off vote on 13 April for electoral anomalies that included double voting and reports of counterfeit, pre-marked ballots. Seventeen people were caught taking photos of their ballots despite a ban imposed by the CNE due to reports of voter coercion by criminal groups.