The right-wing aspirant, Abelardo de la Espriella, positions himself as the most supported candidate in the first round of the Colombian presidential elections held this Sunday, gathering 44.21% of the votes. He is ahead of the representative of the Historical Pact --left--, Iván Cepeda, who achieves 41.01% support, according to 62.64% of the count already released.
According to data from the Registry Office, De la Espriella has 6,053,153 ballots, while Cepeda, supported by the outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, obtains 5,615,891 votes. If these percentages are consolidated, both candidates will face each other for the Head of State in the second round of the elections, scheduled for June 21.
In third place is the aspirant from the Democratic Center, Paloma Valencia, a conservative leader supported by former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010), who obtains 6.62% of the ballots. Next is one of the options from the political center, Sergio Fajardo, with 4.04% of the votes.
Colombian electoral authorities have indicated that a definitive and consistent result is expected around 6:00 PM (1:00 AM Monday in peninsular Spain).
The voting day took place with polling stations open from 8:00 AM (3:00 PM in peninsular Spain) until 4:00 PM (11:00 PM in peninsular Spain). De la Espriella and Cepeda were the big favorites in this electoral event.