Ecuador will choose its next president in a runoff election after conservative incumbent Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa González garnered enough votes Sunday to beat 14 other candidates.

An April presidential run-off in Ecuador will pit incumbent Daniel Noboa against leftist Luisa Gonzalez, in an unexpectedly tight contest featuring the same two candidates who were in a 2023 snap election.

The official outcome of Sunday's vote gave Noboa 44.15% of the votes cast, followed by 43.95% for leftist challenger Luisa Gonzalez - an outcome closer than predicted by opinion polls.

Polls have opened in a presidential election in Ecuador that has shaped up to be a repeat of the 2023 race, when voters chose a young, conservative millionaire over the leftist protégée of the country’s most influential president this century.

Noboa says his deployment of the military on the streets and within prisons has reduced violent deaths by 15%, led to a drastic fall in prison violence, and helped in the capture of major gang leaders.

Ecuadorian voters are preparing to cast their ballots for a new president for the second time in 18 months amid an unprecedented security crisis in the country.

Ecuador is likely to choose its next president in a runoff election later this year as early results of a first-round vote Sunday showed a tight battle between conservative President Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa González.