In a first official statement from the executive after the polls closed, the secretary of Communication of the Presidency of Ecuador, Roberto Izurieta, thanked the electoral authorities for an "exemplary day" and praised "the civic spirit" of the Ecuadorian people. "It is days like this that make a country great. Ecuador has had to face and continues to face great challenges, and the Ecuadorian people have spoken at the polls about these challenges," he said. He also recalled that the Government of President Daniel Noboa said from the beginning that "the challenges that Ecuador has are very great, so a point was reached where it was necessary to consult the Ecuadorian people, so that they would support the policies that were adopted, especially with regard to the security of the State and the security of citizens". Izurieta issued these statements at the Carondelet presidential palace, in Quinto, where the head of state is with his family and cabinet members, awaiting the official results of the referendum. "When the electoral authorities speak out, the national government will also speak out, but who we have to listen to is the Ecuadorian people," he stressed, before asking the population to wait patiently for the vote count. According to an exit poll conducted by the company Infinity Estrategas, Noboa obtained popular support in nine of the 11 questions. According to this survey, the question on the authorization of international arbitration in any jurisdiction obtained 59.44% of votes against and 40.56% in favor, while the question on the flexibility of labor hiring and the authorization of hourly contracts registered 65.91% of votes against and 34.09% in favor. The same opinion poll indicates that the remaining nine questions obtained votes in favor of between 70.64% and 81.91% of voters, with votes against ranging from 18.09% to 29.36%. The Ecuadorian National Electoral Council (CNE) will begin to release the preliminary official results around 7:30 p.m. local time on Sunday (1:30 a.m. today in Lisbon). Read Also: Ecuadorian Army Suppresses Attempted Prison Riot (Portuguese version)