Opposition on Twitter as a novelty in the 2019 sectional elections in Ecuador

Abstract

In the regional elections of March 24, 2019, in Ecuador, 11,069 popularly elected dignitaries were chosen among main and alternate candidates. In the two years of Lenin Moreno's government, no opposition has been identified from the territories or the traditional media, and digital communication has marked a passive media agenda. The 2019 elections presented a different panorama for the executive and this is due to the involvement of former president Rafael Correa, who is currently the face of the opposition in social networks utilizing Twitter and promoting the political movement Fuerza Compromiso Social (FCS). In this research, a mixed methodology was applied. The analytical method was used for compiling, with observational tools, the Tweets generated during the 45 days of the campaign. Also, using the synthetic method, the results of the regional elections from the official page of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE), the National Electoral Council, were analyzed in order to know how a social network influenced the Ecuadorian electoral campaign and, from this perspective, to evaluate the state of democracy after the regional elections of March 2019 in Ecuador. About the candidates, FCS, also known as List 5, gave priority to the candidates of the Prefectures and the candidates who stood for election to the Consejo de Participación Ciudadana y Control Social (Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control). One of the main conclusions is that the means of visualization of the candidacies are not equitable and are constructed through social networks. In the case of FCS, this is strengthened in the digital realm since it maintained its presence as a party in the electoral registry of the CNE by obtaining 5% of the total registered electorate which is the minimum percentage required to participate in the 2021 elections.