Ecuador Clean Elections Index
By: V-Dem Staff
Feb 13, 2017
In these elections, Ecuadorians will vote for 137 members of the National Assembly, five members of the Andean Parliament, the Vice President, and the President. It is the first election since 2006 where the current President Rafael Correa will not appear on the ballot. In this week’s graph we will look at the Clean Elections Index in Ecuador.
Using the Variable Graph Tool we compare the index over time in Ecuador to the average among South American countries. The Clean Elections Index measures to what extent elections are free and fair and it draws from various factors such as the absence of voter registration fraud, systematic election irregularities, government intimidation of the opposition, vote buying, and election violence. A higher value indicates that elections are more free and fair.
In Ecuador, we can see two low periods on the Index: in the mid-1960s and during the 1970s. This is related to the military government that was in power during this time. In 1979 the first free elections were held in Ecuador, and since the early 1990s the country has remained on a similar level as other countries in the region. Looking at the development of the average among South American countries, we can see a steady increase since the end of the 1970s and stabilizing around the same level as Ecuador after 1993. Ecuador therefore seems to have led the region in adopting and institutionalizing free and fair elections.
To learn more about the elections across the globe, use the V-Dem Online Analysis Tool on V-Dem.net.
