On Tuesday, Gustavo Petro, the presidential candidate of the Historical Pact (PH), questioned that the National Civil Registry (RNC) Director Alexander Vega requested a general recount of the citizens’ votes issued at the March 13 legislative elections.
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“We are facing a real coup d'état backed by the far-right former President Alvaro Uribe,” Petro pointed out, recalling that this arbitrary decision ignores the work of 5,000 electoral judges.
In the preliminary vote counting, the RNC awarded 2,302,847 votes to the Historical Pact. However, after 97 percent of the ballots were counted on Friday, the left-wing coalition gained 390,152 more votes, with which it became the most-voted alliance in these elections.
Upon hearing from these results, Uribe alleged that the difference between the two data was due to fraud committed by jurors to favor the PH candidates and urged Vega to carry the vote recount.
"The preliminary count is informative. No politician or coalition won or lost votes in it because it has no legal value," Vega argued. However, he stressed that the recount was necessary to maintain confidence in electoral institutions.
Petro said that he would not participate in electoral debates until the RCN guarantees transparent vote custody and respect for the will of the Colombian people.
“We will act with maximum prudence,” he stated and urged that international observers condemn this situation to avoid an electoral fraud.