Election hours in Colombia 2022: opening of the polls, deadline to vote, at what time there will be official results

More than 39 million citizens of Colombia They are summoned to the polls this Sunday to elect the next president of a country that demands changes and that arrives at the polls divided between left and right options after a campaign marked by allegations of alleged fraud, attacks and espionage.

The electoral census is made up of 39,002,239 citizens, but as abstention in the country is usually close to 50% Some 20 million Colombians are expected to vote at the 12,263 polling stations set up throughout the country by the Registryentity that organizes the elections and that as a result of the failures it had in the legislative elections of March 13 has been the target of numerous criticisms.

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The Registry began last week to distribute electoral material throughout the country and in large voting centers, such as the one in corferiasin Bogotá, workers finalized this Saturday the assembly to receive tens of thousands of voters tomorrow.

Of the six candidates, only three have a real chance, according to voting intention surveys: the leftist Gustavo Petro, of the Historical Pact; the rightist Federico “Fico” Gutierrezfrom Equipo por Colombia Fico, and the independent populist Rodolfo Hernandezof the Anti-Corruption Governors League.

Left-wing presidential candidate Gustavo Petro is covered by a bodyguard holding a bulletproof shield during a rally in Medellin, Colombia, on May 20, 2022. (JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP)

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If Petro wins, it would lift the left to power in Colombia for the first time, a possibility that scares many because of his past as a guerrilla of the disappeared April 19 Movement (M-19), but mainly because of his ambiguity regarding certain political and economic issues.

However, given the division of the electorate, It is highly likely that a second round will be necessary on June 19 between the two most voted.

The polling stations will open at 8:00 a.m. local time (1:00 p.m. GMT) and will close at 4:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. GMT), and it is estimated that about two hours later there will be consolidated results that allow to know if finally the Colombians will have to return to the polls three weeks later.

The latest surveys in Colombia. (AFP).

THE PHANTOM OF FRAUD

With this panorama ended one of the most hostile campaigns in recent years and in which the ghost of fraud was stirred up by the different candidates.

The flaws in the counting of votes in the legislative elections, which were corrected in the final count, in which the leftist Historical Pact added about 400,000 votes more than those who had initially awarded itleft in the air the suspicion of electoral irregularities.

Colombian presidential candidate Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez, of the Equipo por Colombia coalition, speaks during his campaign closing event in Medellín. (EFE/ Luis Eduardo Noriega A.).

Until the last moment, the main candidates have given the key to the lack of electoral guarantees by the Registrar, and even Petro, who last month denounced an alleged plan to attempt on his life, also spoke a week ago of an alleged government plan to suspend the elections that give him as a favorite.

These elections will be one of those that will have the greatest international observationwith the presence for the first time of an Observation Mission of the European Union (EU), which has been deployed throughout the country to accompany the process.

“We value your presence at Colombia to be guarantors of the proper conduct of the elections for the Presidency of the Republic”, President Iván Duque said today, after meeting with the EU mission headed by Spanish MEP Javi López.

A mission from the Organization of American States (OAS)of which Duque assured today that it is “very important” to have his “accompaniment”.

Despite international supervision, Petro insisted on Saturday that “the territorial presence of observation missions is useless if the technical audit of the software” of the Registry is not allowed.

The candidate for the presidency of Colombia Rodolfo Hernández raises his arms with Íngrid Betancourt, presidential candidate until this Friday, during a campaign event in Barranquilla. (EFE/ Str).

“Until the last moment, this audit was prevented, which does not allow for guarantees about the absence of malicious algorithms that distort results,” alerted Petro on their social networks.

CALL TO VOTE

“Fico” Gutiérrez, for his part, asked citizens this Saturday to go out and vote so that the change that Colombians want is for the better.

“We are going to unite Colombiano more hate speech, no more class struggle speeches, let’s build a country that is to improve, that the changes are to improve, “said the right-wing candidate on his Twitter account.

Gutierrezwho a few weeks ago denounced an alleged espionage maneuver on his campaign with the installation of a microphone in one of his headquarters, which he attributed to the people of Petroinsists that the country cannot bear any more division as seen in this campaign, something that seems increasingly difficult given the level of confrontation on social networks between supporters of the left and the right.

To guarantee security and normality in the elections, the Government launched the “Democracy Plan”, of which more than 300,000 members of the Armed Forces and the Police are part.

In compliance with the Democracy Plan, the Army indicated today that, with 80,000 soldiers, it will give priority to 50 municipalities in the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Bolívar, Caquetá, Cauca, Chocó, Córdoba, Tolima, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo and Valle del Cauca, which are the most affected by the armed conflict.

For its part, the Police has more than 94,000 of its members throughout the country, whose top priority will be “the protection of the presidential candidates and their campaigns, and of the more than 12,200 polling stations, as well as respect for the rights humans,” the institution said in a statement.

Source: Elcomercio