High Levels of Justice in Colombia Support Registry’s Work in Elections
The upheaval caused by President Gustavo Petro’s statements, according to which fraud occurred in the first-round elections, also led many sectors to align themselves in defense of democracy, institutions, and the National Registry, the body responsible for organizing elections in Colombia and against which the president has intensified his attacks.
Although the National Registry has explained the way in which the preliminary count and the scrutiny process were carried out, refuting the head of state’s claims, and despite the fact that international observers such as the Carter Center and the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) stated that there was no fraud, the Colombian president continues to insist on casting doubt on the work of the electoral authority.
Support for the scrutiny commissions
For that reason, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Justice (the highest court of the ordinary jurisdiction) and the Superior Council of the Judiciary (the governing and administrative body of Colombia’s Judicial Branch) expressed their full support for the work being carried out by the scrutiny commissions throughout the country, which perform an essential role in guaranteeing transparency, legitimacy, and public confidence in Colombia’s electoral process.
The two institutions highlighted that electoral scrutiny constitutes a procedure regulated by the Constitution and the law, carried out independently and rigorously by the scrutiny commissions, composed primarily of judges of the Republic.
The clarifications from both courts were set out in a joint statement signed by Justice Ivan Mauricio Lenis Gomez, president of the Supreme Court of Justice, and Justice Mary Lucero Novoa Moreno, president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary.
In response to the doubts expressed by President Petro regarding the election results, they recalled that it is the responsibility of the National Electoral Council, as an autonomous and independent body, to declare the final results of the May 31 electoral process, within the established legal framework and with full guarantees of due process.
In the same vein, and as organizations such as the EU EOM and others have emphasized, they expressed their support for the National Civil Registry, which has coordinated efforts with oversight bodies, international organizations, and other competent authorities to ensure a transparent and reliable process.
Call for responsibility
They also invited citizens, institutions, and political actors to preserve respect for the constitutional order and to trust the legal mechanisms established for the verification and consolidation of Colombia’s electoral results.
Finally, they called on society as a whole and on all public officials to act with responsibility, prudence, and respect in order to avoid confrontation, uncertainty, and the weakening of confidence in the institutions responsible for guaranteeing electoral transparency.
The statement by the two highest bodies of Colombia’s ordinary justice system came at a time of tensions resulting from President Petro’s assertions following last Sunday’s presidential first round.
At the same time, the National Registry responded point by point to the president’s comments. It denied the allegations regarding supposed fraud, irregularities in the electoral roll, the number of potential voters, the number of polling stations, and modifications to the software.
After the scrutiny process was completed, judges confirmed that its results matched the preliminary count by 99.94%, despite the criticism voiced by the president. In the end, Abelardo de la Espriella received 10,361,499 votes, while Ivan Cepeda, Petro’s candidate, obtained 9,688,361 votes. The two will face each other in the runoff election on June 21.