Key facts
- The final vote count in Colombia's presidential runoff differed by only 0.003% from the initial count.
- Right-wing lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella won the election.
- Leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda trailed De La Espriella by less than 1% in the initial count.
- The registrar stated the preliminary count achieved high accuracy.
- De La Espriella's win signifies a trend of right-wing political shifts in Latin America driven by crime concerns.
Colombia's national registrar announced on Tuesday that the final vote count for the recent presidential runoff election showed a negligible difference of 0.003% from the initial tally, confirming the narrow victory of right-wing lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella. The registrar stated that the preliminary count was highly accurate, with adjustments being minimal and the consolidation process successful.
In the initial count, De La Espriella secured 49.6% of the votes, holding a lead of less than 1% over his leftist opponent, Ivan Cepeda. Cepeda had indicated he would await the final verification by electoral authorities before conceding. The final results showed De La Espriella winning 12,959,542 votes compared to Cepeda's 12,708,712, a difference of 250,830 votes.
De La Espriella, a 47-year-old criminal defense attorney and entrepreneur who campaigned on a law-and-order platform, is set to become Colombia's 48th president when Gustavo Petro's term ends on August 7. His victory aligns with a broader trend in Latin America where voters are increasingly backing right-wing politicians promising stricter measures against crime.
During the first round of the election on May 31, De La Espriella garnered 43.73% of the votes, while Cepeda received 40.91%. De La Espriella also saw significant support from the Colombian diaspora, with approximately 70% of voters in the U.S. choosing him in the first round. His proposed policies include opening mega prisons, cutting corporate taxes, resuming oil exploration and fracking, increasing law enforcement spending, and reducing social spending.