Preliminary results indicate that Abelardo de la Espriella, an independent candidate from Colombia’s Defenders of the Homeland movement, is ahead in the country’s presidential runoff with 49.66% of the vote, while Ivan Cepeda of the Historic Pact coalition trails with 48.70% after 99.97% of votes have been counted. President Gustavo Petro and Cepeda have raised concerns about the early vote count, with Petro emphasizing that no candidate should be declared president yet due to alleged irregularities.
President Petro, on social media, highlighted the need to await the decision of judicial authorities despite the current results. Cepeda, responding to the preliminary count, emphasized that the figures are not yet official or legally binding and mentioned plans to challenge the results at thousands of polling tables across the country with the support of legal experts.
De la Espriella, the leading candidate, has claimed victory following the preliminary results. Reports suggest that various right-wing Latin American leaders, such as Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa and Argentine President Javier Milei, have already extended their congratulations. Colombia’s electoral process involves two stages of vote counting: an initial tally by technical service providers and a subsequent official review by judges and electoral authorities to determine the final outcome.
The presidential runoff voting took place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, with over 41.4 million registered voters across approximately 13,000 polling stations. The runoff election was necessitated after no candidate secured a majority in the first round held on May 31, leading to De la Espriella and Cepeda advancing to the final round. The new president is expected to assume office on August 7.
