BREAKING: "Election Fraud! We Can't Trust It!" President Challenges Results in Colombia's 1% Point Nail-Biter, 33,000 Ballot Boxes Questioned

As right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella appears poised to win Colombia's presidential runoff, chaos has erupted following allegations of election fraud from the opposing camp.

According to the Colombian daily El Tiempo and AFP, with 99.9% of the votes counted in the quick count on the National Electoral Council's website, Abelardo de la Espriella of the "Guardians of the Fatherland" party has been declared the president-elect with 49.65% of the vote, surpassing Ivan Cepeda Castro of the "Historical Pact" coalition, who received 48.70%.

However, the gap between the two candidates is approximately 250,000 votes, a difference of less than 1 percentage point. The Colombian newspaper El Espectador reported that the outcome is not yet decided and that the final result will be determined through the official tally.

The left-wing camp is pushing back, citing election fraud.

Current Colombian President Gustavo Petro previously posted videos on his social media claiming they were examples of election fraud, and later added that given the extremely narrow margin, the public must wait for the final verification and recount results.

Cepeda's camp also issued an emergency statement, declaring, "We will challenge the results of all 33,000 ballot boxes nationwide," and added, "We will not accept the election results until the final official recount is completely finished."

Cepeda's side believes that if the suspected fraudulent votes are corrected during the official recount process, a last-minute reversal is possible. Regardless of the final outcome, there are predictions that the situation will escalate beyond a mere dispute between the two sides, leading to deep social division.

If the victory of Espriella, who has received support from U.S. President Donald Trump, is officially confirmed, it will mark the return of a right-wing government in Colombia after four years.

The next president is scheduled to be inaugurated on August 7.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Lee Dain | Graphics by Yang Hyemin | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.