People in Ecuador have voted in presidential and congressional elections overshadowed by violence.

Some 100,000 police and soldiers were deployed to protect the polls.

Left-winger Luisa Gonzalez and businessman Daniel Noboa took 33% and 24% of the vote respectively and will go through to a second round of voting, according to partial results.

Earlier this month, a presidential candidate was murdered. Others said shootings marred their campaigns.

The snap election was called after President Guillermo Lasso - a conservative former banker - dissolved parliament to avoid impeachment.

The new president will take office on 26 October and will serve only the remainder of Mr Lasso's term, a year and a half.

Ms Gonzales, an ally of leftist ex-President Rafael Correa, was seen as the frontrunner of the eight politicians vying for the presidency.

But the assassination of candidate Fernando Villavicencio on 9 August in the capital, Quito, made the election difficult to predict.

It has also placed the focus very much on peace and security. Bulletproof vests were in evidence during the campaign and many candidates dialled down their closing events.

Mr Villavicencio's replacement, Christian Zurita, took 16% of the vote.

On Saturday, gunfire erupted in a restaurant where conservative candidate Otto Sonnenholzner was having breakfast. The shooting happened in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, which has been overrun by drug-traffickers.

Mr Sonnenholzner is not believed to have been the target. But the campaign has seen a surge in gang attacks.

A similar shooting occurred during a rally held by fellow candidate Daniel Noboa. And a local politician was shot dead in northern Esmeraldas province.

Mr Villavicencio was an outspoken journalist who had uncovered corruption and denounced links between organised crime and officials.

Six men have been arrested in connection with his assassination, all of them Colombian citizens.

BDST: 0930 HRS, AUG 21, 2023
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