Wearing Colombian T-shirts, vueltiaos hats and other accessories with the patriotic colors, Colombians in South Florida went to vote Sunday vote for the next president of their country.
Voters said they want the elections to be transparent and for the candidate of Colombians’ choice to win.
“I hope the result reflects what the Colombian people want,” Juan Sebastian Naranjo told the Miami Herald. “It is difficult to trust at this time in the institutions... and what I hope is that these votes are transparent.”
Colombians’ confidence in the electoral system took a hit after a controversy in legislative elections on March 13, in which more than one million votes were added to those that had already been registered in a pre-count.
Although discrepancies with the final results are not unusual, the magnitude of the difference prompted questions about the electoral system and concerns about the presidential elections.
Elections registrar Alexander Vega has denied that there are any fundamental problems and has insisted on the guarantees of a transparent system.
Voters in South Florida urged fellow Colombians to go to the polls and told those who did not take part in the democratic process not to complain.
“Not voting is to disengage with the country, it is to disengage from what is happening,” said Maria Elisa Ayerbe. “When you vote you have the right to demand that those in power fulfill their promises,” she added.
There were six candidates in the first round. Leftist candidate Gustavo Petro was leading in the polls, followed by center-right candidate Federico Gutiérrez. lf no candidate wins outright the two top vote getters will to a runoff on June 19.
The Colombian government set up seven voting sites in South Florida, where more than 100,000 Colombians registered to vote.
The Colombian consul general in Miami, Pedro Agustín Valencia, said that the early voting day in South Florida, which began Monday, had been very successful.
While close to 6,000 people voted for the early congressional elections, 20,545 Colombians voted early in the presidential election. Valencia said he expected that as many as 30,000 people voted in South Florida by the time polls closed Sunday.
