Ecuadorians in NYC participate in their country’s elections

Ecuadorians in New York are preparing for a historic event: elect – next Sunday – their representatives for the Presidency and the Assembly.

Osvaldo Guzmán, an Ecuadorian voter, points out: “We all have the obligation to attend this event, to try to cast the vote. Do it with the heart, with a feeling of choosing that person who is the most prepared.”

In New York City, there are two polling places: Mott Haven Educational Campus in the Bronx and John Bowne High School in Queens. The counties with the largest group of Ecuadorians in the city.

Due to the pandemic, the entry of people to the premises will be limited and they will have to follow health security protocols.

Only those who have registered to vote before July 14, 2020, will be eligible to vote in these elections.

According to figures from the Ecuadorian consulate in the city, more than 40,000 voters are registered in the city’s electoral roll.

Carlos Martínez, consul in charge of Ecuador in New York points out: “Our duty is to guarantee that participation, to guarantee that they can exercise their right to vote. So we hope to have, this Sunday, an electoral process in which Ecuadorians can influence within the Ecuador”.

There are twelve candidates seeking two seats in the National Assembly of Ecuador and who will represent the Ecuadorian immigrant community in the United States and Canada.

Ecuadorians are the third largest immigrant community in New York, behind only Dominicans and Mexicans.

Onias Pacheco, executive director of the Ecuadorian Integration organization, assures that these assembly members – who were elected for the first time in 2006 – are responsible for supervising the Ecuadorian government abroad.

“It is these public agents who have the obligation to help them by not intervening in American politics, but by giving them aid,” explains Pacheco.

To vote in these elections you must have at least one of these documents: an Ecuadorian ID, a passport or a consulate ID.

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