QUITO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Some 11.6 million Ecuadorian voters began casting their ballots at 7 a.m. Sunday (1200 GMT) to elect the country's president, 137 National Assembly members and five representatives to the regional Andean Parliament.
About 40,390 polling stations are open countrywide and abroad.
According to latest polls, President Rafael Correa enjoys a whopping 80-percent approval rating, comfortably ahead of his seven rivals, including a former banker, a former president and a banana magnate who is also Ecuador's richest man.
Voting is scheduled to end at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) and preliminary results of the presidential race are expected late in the day.
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