Bogota, Colombia – President Gustavo Petro rejected the results of the first round of the presidential election on Sunday, citing irregularities.
Far-right populist Abelardo de la Espriella defied pollsters’ predictions that he would beat Iván Cepeda, the candidate representing Petro’s left-wing Historic Pact party, but neither man fell short of the 50% needed for a clean victory.
“The so-called counts are not legally binding. The data is not considered official. As president, I do not accept the results of the preliminary counts.” wrote Soon after the election was called, Petro on
In Colombia, the “pre-conteo,” or preliminary tally, is based on officials counting ballots and entering them into online software. But the “escrutinio,” or scrutinized results, typically take several days to be released and approved by a judge.
According to the Registrar’s Office, which oversees the voting process, pre-counts are used “for informational purposes only” and “have no legal status.”
But de la Espriella received nearly 700,000 more votes than Cepeda, a gap that is unlikely to close after the polls.
Speaking after the results were announced, Cepeda said he would not comment on the election until the results of a closer investigation were released.
“I will comment on the results tonight only when the vote counting committee has fully, clearly and thoroughly clarified this issue,” the senator told supporters at the Hotel Tequendama in central Bogotá.
“Our life has been a constant struggle,” he said, also referring to the historic efforts of Colombia’s traditional political parties and institutions to suppress the leftist movement embodied in the historical convention.
Crowds of Cepeda voters gathered nearby to watch the speech on a large screen, some chanting Spain’s anti-fascist slogan “No Pasarán”. One pair held signs that said “Scam!”
Petro has repeatedly warned that the election could be stolen, part of a long-running dispute with Thomas Greg & Sons, the multinational company handling election logistics.
The 2022 historical agreement won about half a million votes in legislative elections after scrutiny.
Regardless of the final result of the election, Cepeda and de la Espriella are scheduled to face off in the second round on June 21.
Featured image caption: President Gustavo Petro attending a cabinet meeting on October 22, 2025.
Featured image credit: @InfoPresidencia via X.
