EU Observation Mission Rules Out Fraud in Elections in Colombia
In yet another statement that runs counter to the alleged electoral fraud in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election claimed by President Gustavo Petro, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) presented its first report on Tuesday. This international oversight was part of the mechanisms implemented by the National Civil Registry to guarantee the transparency of the vote.
The European Union deployed the election observation mission in response to an invitation from the Colombian authorities. The EU EOM will remain in the country to observe the runoff election and, two months after the process concludes, will present a final report that will include recommendations for future electoral processes. Its methodology is based on the principles of independence, neutrality, and non-interference. The EU EOM evaluates elections in light of national legislation and the international commitments to which Colombia is a signatory.
Spaniard Esteban Gonzalez Pons, head of the EU EOM and also vice president of the European Parliament, confirmed that the vote scrutiny process, “which is already very advanced, is confirming the results of the preliminary count,” and highlighted that “the results system, based on manually processed tally sheets, provided traceability, safeguards, and rapid digital publication.”
“Colombia has given a lesson in democracy”: EU EOM
Among the issues that drew the attention of the EU EOM, and which Gonzalez Pons highlighted, was the fact that observers identified an effective presence of electoral witnesses from the different candidacies throughout the voting process. To summarize the observers’ reports, Gonzalez Pons emphasized the adjectives most frequently used in the questionnaires, according to which the elections were “orderly, transparent, and smooth.”
“With all due respect to President Gustavo Petro, who has met with the Mission on two occasions and has facilitated everything necessary for the Mission through members of his government, no candidate or candidacy has informed us that any type of irregularity exists,” he stated, referring to the head of state’s allegations, which have not yet been fully substantiated.
He added that what the president has alleged has not been conveyed to the EU EOM by any of the campaigns. “The president makes an accusation, but for us what matters are the candidates, and up to this moment none has reported any irregularity,” he warned.
This statement by Gonzalez Pons is consistent with the idea that President Petro has no constitutional authority to accept or reject the results of an election. That responsibility belongs to the candidates who may consider themselves affected. In this case, Ivan Cepeda, his candidate, although he supported the president’s allegations of fraud on Sunday night, admitted on Monday morning that there were no circumstances demonstrating that such fraud had occurred.
“Once again, Colombia has given a lesson in democracy,” Gonzalez Pons added. “Despite the presence of illegal armed groups in part of the territory, despite the questioning of the electoral system, and despite growing polarization, Colombia succeeded in bringing ballot boxes to every rural community.”
“Candidates have not raised objections”: EU EOM
On election day, the EU EOM deployed 143 observers from 24 European Union countries, as well as Norway, Switzerland, and Canada, covering 591 polling stations across the Republic.
“Our observers rated all phases of the process as transparent, orderly, and smooth, and verified that representatives of the candidacies were able to perform their duties without restrictions,” the head of the Mission explained.
Although allegations of fraud remained a central issue in political debate and in the media, their presence on social media declined compared to the legislative elections. Gonzalez Pons highlighted the integrity of the process: “I would like to emphasize that all candidates have been able to verify the regularity of the processing of the results and have not raised objections that call them into question. I trust that this same democratic commitment will be maintained in the runoff election,” the head of the Mission concluded.
The European Parliament also had a delegation within the EU EOM, and its head, Leire Pajin, also spoke about the electoral campaign. “It took place in a climate of strong polarization, with exchanges of serious accusations among the candidacies, with the improper participation in the campaign of the President of the Republic and also of other public officials, as well as external interference by the President of Ecuador,” she said.
She added that disinformation had an impact on the campaign, especially on social media, a phenomenon that intensified during the final days of the electoral process and enabled attacks against the candidates. For Pajin, disinformation “allowed attacks of extreme cruelty against the candidates.”