Ecuadorian president votes in referendum for new constitution

QUITO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa voted here on Sunday in the referendum for the new Constitution in the country.

The voting began at 7 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) and will be closed at 5 p.m. local time (2200 GMT).

Accompanied by Ecuadorian Vice President Lenin Moreno and many supporters of the ruling party "Alianza Pais" (Country Alliance), Correa voted at the school Maria Eufrasia in the district of Chaupicruz in the north of Quito.

Correa said it would be the "victory of the democracy and of the Ecuadorian people, everybody go to vote and decide the future of the country."

Correa said he would travel to the city of Guayaquil, in the southwest of the country, to wait for the results of the referendum at the government building of Guayas.

Before Correa voted, Moreno also cast his ballot in the north of Quito. "I voted for the future, the past was buried today," he said.

Moreno said Ecuadorians are "people with calm, of consensus, of peace and today, after knowing the results of the elections the future (will continue be) built."

Moreno said that after the referendum all the public sectors should have a dialogue and affirmed that "the democracy is the best way to exercise the right to express the thoughts", adding that whatever the result is, the country has an "optimistic" future.

Ecuadorian Interior and Exterior Security Minister Gustavo Larrea said the voting for the new constitution was "calm and serene."