The electoral pulse in Colombia remains at a fever pitch. The quick count —with more than 99% of votes tallied— placed far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella as the winner by an extremely narrow margin: barely 248,000 votes difference. However, ruling party candidate Iván Cepeda has already ordered the challenge of 33,000 polling stations, 27% of the national total, and joined outgoing President Gustavo Petro in calling for the definitive scrutiny before proclaiming the new president.
The official scrutiny has already begun, but it usually takes a few days. During the first round, it took about a day and a half, but it could take even longer due to the number of challenges and the ruling party’s complaints. In Colombia, they estimate that the final result of the second round may not be known until next Thursday or Friday.
Petro himself denounced failures in the preliminary count system and assured that many of the tally sheets presented lacked the signatures of polling station authorities. In his election speech at his bunker, Cepeda announced that he asked his witnesses —fiscales— to challenge 33,000 polling stations nationwide. These must be evaluated and verified judicially before a final result is reached.
“We recognize the preliminary count carried out today as a non-official figure. We acknowledge its initial result, but our group of witnesses, tens of thousands, are proceeding to challenge 33,000 polling stations across the country. One by one, they must be subject to scrutiny,” said candidate Iván Cepeda during his speech tonight.
With such a small difference, if enough polling stations are challenged, the ruling party could flip the election. Although during the first round the difference between the quick count and the final scrutiny was only 0.03%, there is a precedent that generates expectations in Cepeda’s ranks: during the 2022 legislative elections, the quick count gave 2,302,847 votes to Pacto Histórico —Cepeda and Petro’s coalition— and later the official scrutiny raised that figure to 2,830,902 votes, that is, more than 528,000 votes. The ruling party still hopes that a similar situation will grant them victory.
Meanwhile, the country waits on edge. Uncertainty over who will be Colombia’s next president remains, and everything indicates that the definitive winner will not be known until the weekend. Polarization is at its peak, and fraud allegations continue. Can the left reverse the result? Or will the far-right hold onto power? Time will tell, but for now, Colombia is experiencing hours of high tension.
che pero estos zurdos de mierda no se bancan perder!!! 33mil mesas impugnadas??? un choreo total, para mi Abelardo gano y punto. ojala que el escrutinio lo confirme rapido porque sino estos van a armar quilombo. firma: ElLocoMessi10
che pero este hdp de la espriella ya se veía venir, quiere chorear la elección con esas 33 mil mesas truchas! para mí el escrutinio final nos va a dar la alegría, pero con esa derecha neofascista nunca se sabe… aguante la patria socialista carajo!