Colombia’s preliminary vote count showing De La Espriella’s narrow victory is ‘accurate,’ registrar says
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — After judges’ certification, Hernán Penagos, Colombia’s national registrar, announced on Monday that the preliminary vote count after the runoff presidential election was “accurate.”
More than 41.4 million Colombians were eligible to vote, and over 26.3 million cast their ballots on Sunday, according to the Colombian National Registry.
Abelardo De La Espriella, the right-wing candidate, was the president-elect after winning 250,830 votes more than Iván Cepeda, the left-wing candidate, according to the national registry’s latest report.
U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed De La Espriella, 47, a criminal defense attorney and entrepreneur, and Colombian President Gustavo Petro supported Cepeda, 63, a senator and human rights advocate.
With information from 99.99% of the polling stations, 122,017 out of 122,020, the data showed 49.66%, or 12,959,542, voted for De La Espriella, and 48.7%, or 12,708,712, voted for Cepeda.
There were more than 250 precincts for the Colombian diaspora worldwide. In South Florida, Colombian voters cast their ballots in Coral Gables, Kendall, Hialeah, Coral Springs, and Weston.
De La Espriella, a father of four who campaigned as “The Tiger,” a law-and-order candidate, and a fan of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, celebrated with supporters on Sunday night in Barranquilla.
Cepeda, who is a political rival of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, met with supporters in Bogotá to say that the preliminary results needed to be scrutinized.
Cepeda campaigned as the candidate who wants to protect the environment, continue negotiations with armed groups for their surrender, and prioritize welfare programs.
De La Espriella said he planned to open mega prisons, cut corporate taxes, restart oil exploration and fracking, increase spending on law enforcement, and cut social spending.
During the presidential election’s first round on May 31, De la Espriella had 43.73% of the votes when he qualified for the runoff against Cepeda, who had 40.91% of the votes. About 70% of the voters in the U.S. chose De La Espriella on May 31.
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