Left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda decided not to recognize his defeat in the Colombian presidential election after the release of the preliminary count that showed Abelardo de la Espriella’s advantage in the second round held this Sunday (22).
President Gustavo Petro’s ally stated that his campaign will contest results in thousands of polling stations and will await the conclusion of the official vote before making a decision on the outcome of the dispute.
With practically all ballot boxes counted in the pre-count, Espriella appeared with 49.66% of the votes, while Cepeda totaled 48.70%. The difference was below 300 thousand votes in a universe of millions of voters, making the process of checking the results one of the central points of the post-election.
In a statement reproduced by the website InfobaeCepeda stated that his legal team identified questions in around 33 thousand polling stations distributed across the country. According to him, tens of thousands of lawyers and observers linked to the campaign will monitor the review of electoral documents in the next stages of the count.
The candidate said he recognized the numbers initially released by the authorities, but highlighted that confirmation of the winner will depend on the formal analysis of the challenges presented by his coalition. He also asked that inspectors and campaign representatives closely monitor the checking of minutes and records produced at voting tables.
Starting this Monday (23), Colombia begins the so-called ballot, a step provided for in electoral legislation to validate the voting results. The procedure is conducted by commissions made up of judges, notaries and other employees designated to check documents, analyze possible inconsistencies and judge appeals presented by campaigns.
Unlike the pre-count released on election night, the vote has an official character. At this stage, those responsible can review records, correct discrepancies and, in specific situations, determine a new conference of votes from certain electoral sections.
Historically, the differences between the pre-count and the approved result tend to be small. In the first round of this year’s presidential election, the variation was below 0.1%, according to data from Colombian electoral authorities.
If the advantage is confirmed in the ballot, Abelardo de la Espriella will succeed Gustavo Petro and assume the Presidency of Colombia on August 7, promoting a change of political orientation in the country after four years of left-wing government.
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