“In Colombia there has never been a vote count”: warned the director of the EOM

The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) has ruled against the possible counting of votes that would take place at the request of different political sectors, the national government and the National Civil Registry Office, as a measure to the constant allegations of alleged fraud after the legislative elections, according to the EOM, this would be a historic milestone, since this process has never been carried out in Colombia, which is why doubts are also generated since there is no specific regulation for its implementation.

Alejandra Barrios expresses that this situation arises from the distrust of Colombians regarding the results presented in the ballot, in this regard, Barrios said: “Regarding the proposal of Mr. National Civil Status Registrar, against making a national account of the vote that took place on March 13, is it is important to take into account several things: on the one hand, it is the National Electoral Council, not the registry office, that decides whether or not there is a recount of votes. It is important to keep in mind that it would be the first time that in Colombia we would go to a general recount and this general recount would be clearly due to the deep mistrust that exists at this time about the electoral results and the actions of the National Civil Registry, in organizing the electoral process.” .

According to Alejandra Barrios, director of the EOM, the results recorded today are really close to the total vote that the country had in the last elections, therefore, in the face of a possible recount there could be changes, but there would probably be a margin similar to the figures taken into account until the At the moment, therefore, this process would not possibly mean a total transformation in the results.

Some sectors of national politics have stated that they would not recognize the results in different scenarios, this statement causes serious concern about the reaction that society in general may take, however, the EOM points out that an agreement between the parties could bring political peace, the director of the EOM explained:” We would be finding a political solution if there is a consensus among party organizations to do the recount, but we would not be moving forward in the political truth because we have to have two considerations: on the one hand, there is no legal framework at this time, that is, a regulatory law that tells us how the recount process, what are the times, what are the rules that govern this counting process and what would the logistical aspects look like”.

The request was initially made by the National Registry of Civil Status, supported by President Iván Duque. This request is addressed to the National Electoral Council, since it is the one who decides, through its judges, the free path for this process, however, it is clear that in the face of a possible recount, both state entities and guarantor agencies, would be present, but the picture is not clear.

According to Legal Affairs, the procedure should be done only during national scrutiny, however, there are many gaps; considering that it is an unprecedented fact, since some consider it unconstitutional and in the absence of implementing legislation, there are no guarantees that it will be fully complied with, since the chain of custody of the suffrage exchanges could possibly have been broken.

According to La FM, former registrars such as Juan Carlos Galindo and Carlos Ariel Sánchez, have pointed out that the recount could bring greater transparency to the electoral process, leaving the possibilities of fraud and errors to be nullified even in the face of the presidential elections.

The National Electoral Council has called attention to President Iván Duque Márquez, to avoid his interference in the electoral process, taking into account that it may be affected by his ideological position, which is not competent in that situation.

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