Ecuadoran court denies appeal for presidential vote recount

QUITO: An electoral court in Ecuador ruled Sunday against the appeal for a recount by indigenous leader Yaku Perez, who narrowly missed making it into the country's upcoming second round of presidential elections.

Left-wing economist Andres Arauz and former right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso won the February 7 first round, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), the body that organized the vote.

Perez, who missed inclusion in the April 11 runoff by just 32,600 votes, alleged there were irregularities and demanded a recount.

But the electoral court said it "denied the appeal and ratified the content of the resolution issued by the National Electoral Council."

Perez called the decision a hit-job on democracy, and said on Twitter he would keep up the fight for transparency.