Cepeda and Petro dismiss preliminary 1st round results
De la Espriella labels both leaders "criminals" and "narcos" in response
This news update is by Adriaan Alsema from Colombia Reports
Colombia’s leftist presidential candidate, Senator Ivan Cepeda, said Sunday that he does not accept the preliminary results of the first round, which saw far-right attorney Abelardo de la Espriella outperform polls to win.
In a speech before supporters, Cepeda called on electoral authorities to scrutinize the alleged last-minute registry of hundreds of thousands of citizens to the National Registry, which organizes the election rolls.
There is a discrepancy that we want to verify regarding the electoral census. And that is not just any discrepancy. we are talking about 885,000 people or ID cards. We want — because we are serious people — is that to be clarified.
Senator Ivan Cepeda
The leftist candidate, who was considered the frontrunner in the polls, said that his political party was verifying the results in response to “atypical voting” reported by an “indeterminate number of polling stations.”
“Only when the scrutiny commissions leave this matter completely clarified, clearly and rigorously clarified, will we make a statement on tonight’s results,” said Cepeda.
The leftist leader additionally claimed that hundreds of thousands of people were denied the right to vote because polling stations were moved to different locations. He also condemned “undue intervention by foreign governments,” mentioning Ecuador by name.
According to the preliminary count, Cepeda received 41% of the votes against 44% of De la Espriella, who had been trailing the leftist candidate in virtually all the polls.
President Gustavo Petro also refused to accept the results after months of clashing with the National Registry over the outsourcing of the election logistics to a company that is owned by convicted fraudsters.
Human Rights Watch called the rhetoric an “attack” of Colombia’s Registraduría, the body which oversees the National Registry.
Observers and NGOs who monitored elections stated during the pre-count that elections occurred without incident.
De la Espriella condemned Cepeda and Petro for asking that the vote be scrutinized.
“Petro and Cepeda, you two criminals—don't you dare, don't even think about disregarding the will of the people, because there is a people here who will stand up to you and defeat you,” said De la Espriella in a speech from Barranquilla, after the preliminary results of the first round were announced.
He further referred to Cepeda as a “narco-trafficker,” and Petro as a “drug addict.”
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