Millions of Ecuadorans went to 37,000 polling stations across the country on Saturday to elect a Constituent Assembly.
The 9.3 million registered voters in Ecuador will choose 130 assembly members out of 3,229 candidates, local media said.
Among the 130 assembly seats, 100 will be given to provincial representatives, 24 to nationwide representatives and the rest six to representatives of Ecuadorans overseas.
The election, kicked off at 7 a.m. local time (1200GMT), is the fourth one in a year in Ecuador, after two rounds of voting in the presidential election, and a referendum that cleared the way for the creation of the Constituent Assembly.
After the vote, the new body will start work on Oct. 31 and will have 180 days -- a mandate that can be extended by 60 days -- to write a draft constitution that will be put to a referendum in 2008.
The creation of the assembly was initiated by President Rafael Correa, who said the assembly was a key component to make Ecuador a more just country.
Source: Xinhua
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