Moreno, a paraplegic former vice president, secured 51.15 percent of the votes, compared with Lasso's 48.85 percent, with almost 99 percent of votes counted, according to the electoral council on Monday morning.
Eyeing a possible reversal of exit poll results, Lasso has now called for a recount, blaming alleged fraud and urged his supporters to "peacefully defend (their) vote".
With the vote expected to be tight, the polarized nation is bracing for protests as both sides have asked supporters to take to the street and "protect the vote" amid suspicions of fraud.
Thousands of outraged Lasso supporters shouting "fraud" crashed through metal barricades to nearly reach the entrance of the electoral council's headquarters in Quito.
Moreno has vowed to continue Correa's state-heavy model while also showing himself more open to discussion with business leaders.
The candidate for the ruling PAIS Alliance, Lenín Moreno, is the apparent victor of Sunday's runoff.
Moreno, a paraplegic former vice-president, had secured 51.1% of the votes compared to Lasso's 48.9%, with just over 95% of votes counted, according to the electoral council.
The election in the South American country had aroused interest in part because the conservative opposition candidate, Guillermo Lasso, had said that if elected he would evict Assange within 30 days of assuming power, because it was costing the country too much to keep him at the embassy.
Klopp hails Mignolet as Liverpool close on Europe
Liverpool has reclaimed third place in the Premier League table with a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns . Pulis added: "We've had the opportunities again and especially against the top teams you have to take your chances".
Speaking to supporters, Lasso said that it was unfathomable that an exit poll that showed him winning by 6 percentage points could have been off by such a large margin. Lasso criticized Moreno as "the Nicolas Maduro of Rafael Correa", a serious allegation in a country where, regardless of political affiliation, citizens clung to the common refrain "at least we're not Venezuela" during the uncertainty that followed that country's oil bust.
Meanwhile, Lasso has said he'll improve freedom of speech and slash taxes by $3 billion annually to boost job creation and foreign investment, which was largely absent from Ecuador in the past decade.
"There were no discrepancies between the analyzed ballots and the official data", the Washington, D.C. -based OAS said in a statement.
Lasso contrasted Sunday's fast results with the first round of the election in February, when a final tally took days to come out and his supporters gathered in front of the electoral council to guard against what they said were fraud attempts.
Lasso, 61, a former banker, offered Ecuadorans a message of "change", and bet that frustration about the country's sagging economy and Correa's heavy-handed style would lift him to an upset.
The 63-year-old former vice president and United Nations special envoy on disability who lost the use of his legs two decades ago after being shot, campaigned on a promise of benefits for the disabled, single mothers and the elderly. "We have to go to the streets to say DON'T STEAL MY VOTE because we want CHANGE in Ecuador".
Share with Us - We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article, and smart, constructive criticism.




Comments