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Presidency at stake in Ecuador election
QUITO, Ecuador (CNN) -- Voters in Ecuador are going to the polls Sunday to choose a new president in a race between a wealthy businessman and a former coup leader, with many appearing less than enthusiastic about the choice. Voting is mandatory in Ecuador, and voters are required to provide proof they cast a ballot to obtain many kinds of government permits. But a large number of the country's 8.2 million voters were expected to spoil their ballots intentionally as a protest rather than vote for either Lucio Gutierrez or Alvaro Noboa. Gutierrez, 45, was favored going into Sunday's balloting, but his lead over Noboa in recent polls has slipped. A former army colonel, Gutierrez led a January 2000 revolt that deposed President Jamil Mahuad amid an economic slump and widespread protests by Ecuador's indigenous population. He is running as an anti-corruption reformer, promising to crack down on tax evasion and impose life sentences for public officials convicted of enriching themselves in office.
Gutierrez has estimated that Ecuador's government can bring in an extra $1 billion now lost to corruption, allowing the government to meet International Monetary Fund demands that it balance its budget without cutting public social spending. The 52-year-old Noboa, who is not related to current President Gustavo Noboa, is a wealthy businessman running a populist campaign. He promises to abolish the country's income tax if elected, which he said would spur overseas investment to make up for the $500 million that income taxes currently yield for Ecuador's nearly $6 billion budget. Noboa runs an empire of 110 companies, once was chairman of the country's central bank and challenged Mahuad in the country's 1998 elections. His wife, a physician, runs a group of clinics that provides free health care.
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