Former Registrar Explains How the Chain of Custody for Cards Would Work in a Possible Vote Count

Faced with criticism from various political sectors and the distrust of the chain of custody of electoral cards in the face of a possible recount of votes for the election of the Senate, former registrar Juan Carlos Galindo said that in the counting process it is possible to recount votes when asked by electoral witnesses or own tellers.

In dialogues with W Radio, Galindo clarified that these documents are absolutely safeguarded.

In addition, he noted that errors are expected, but stressed that the system is making the respective corrections.

Finally, he called for calm, reiterating that “the system itself has the mechanisms to correct the problems that may arise.”

“In order to safeguard institutionality and in order to reach the electoral truth, we have made the decision, in accordance with the countless inconsistencies in the Senate E-14 forms, and for the country's peace of mind, to request the recount of all Senate tables of the Republic,” said Registrar Alexander Vega.

What happened in recent days has generated a huge impact on the political scene ahead of the presidential elections that will take place on Sunday, May 29. Gustavo Petro, the strongest candidate (according to the polls) and who won more than 4 half million votes in the interparty consultation of the Historical Pact, said that electoral transparency must be guaranteed, so he decided to stop attending the debates.

“I suspend my presence in electoral debates until the transparency of the vote is guaranteed. We will act with the utmost prudence and call on international oversight to act promptly. At the moment there is no transparent chain of custody on the votes already counted,” said the presidential candidate on his Twitter account.

On the recount of votes and the huge wave of criticism from some political sectors, even President Iván Duque spoke out and recommended that the electoral authorities carry out the recount of votes to provide guarantees to the citizens and political actors involved.

“In view of the Electoral Guarantees Commission that will take place tomorrow and in order to give citizens confidence in the transparency of the electoral process, it is advisable to consider, on the part of @CNE_COLOMBIA, to move forward with a general recount in the election to the senate,” said the Colombian president.

In the most recent debate conducted by RCN and its allied media, candidates Federico Gutiérrez of the Team for Colombia coalition, Sergio Fajardo of the Centro Esperanza coalition, Ingrid Betancourt of the Oxygen Green Party and Enrique Gómez Martínez of the National Salvation Movement consider it important to perform a recount of votes.

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