Today's News: Abelardo de la Espriella wins the presidency of Colombia
Colombia elected Abelardo de la Espriella as its new president this Sunday, June 21, in one of the closest elections in its recent history. Although the initial result grants him the victory, the opposition has announced that it will legally challenge the results of thousands of polling stations. Various national and international leaders have already spoken out regarding the upcoming change of government.
Abelardo de la Espriella, a criminal lawyer, declared himself president-elect after obtaining 49.65% of the votes, equivalent to more than 12.7 million votes in the second round. The preliminary count, which is the first rapid vote count conducted by the National Civil Registry (the entity in charge of organizing elections), showed a narrow lead over Senator Iván Cepeda. After the data was released, De la Espriella expressed his intention to begin a new chapter for the country.
For his part, Iván Cepeda acknowledged the initial data but reported that his campaign will challenge 33,000 polling stations. To challenge is a legal recourse to request a formal review of the votes due to possible errors or irregularities. Given this scenario, the mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, asked citizens to remain calm and process any grievances through the institutions, ensuring that he is ready to work with the new administration. Other leaders, such as the mayor of Cúcuta and the governor of Norte de Santander, also offered their collaboration for regional development.
The victory generated reactions from former presidents Álvaro Uribe, Juan Manuel Santos, César Gaviria, and Iván Duque, who agreed on the need to unite the country following the election day. Internationally, the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, and United States Senator Bernie Moreno sent messages of congratulations to the president-elect.
To ensure transparency, the Registry has digitized and published the E-14 forms on its website. These forms are the official documents where voting juries record the votes of each polling station when the polls close. Citizens can consult these documents on the official portal to directly verify the results of their polling place.
For more details on the scrutiny process and other news of the day, visit the News section in our application. There you will find information about Cape Verde's surprising draw against Uruguay in the World Cup and detailed reactions from regional political leaders.