De La Espriella, Cepeda Advance To Runoff In Colombia's Presidential Election

BOGOTA, June 1 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Colombia's Abelardo de la Espriella, an independent candidate associated with the far-right Defenders of the Homeland movement, and Ivan Cepeda of the ruling left-wing Historic Pact coalition, advanced to the presidential runoff after emerging as the top two candidates in Sunday's first-round vote.

The outcome was based on preliminary results released by National Civil Registry of Colombia, reported Xinhua.

With 97.58 per cent of the ballots counted, de la Espriella received 43.77 per cent of the vote, while Cepeda garnered 40.88 per cent, according to the preliminary results. Paloma Valencia, representing the right-wing Democratic Centre party, ranked third with 6.91 per cent.

Colombians voted on Sunday to elect a president and vice president for the 2026-2030 term. More than 41.4 million registered voters were eligible to cast ballots at around 13,000 polling stations across the country. Polls opened at 8 am local time (1300 GMT) and closed at 4 pm.

Under the country's electoral system, a candidate must win more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round to be elected outright. As no candidate crossed that threshold, de la Espriella and Cepeda will face each other in a runoff on June 21. The winner will take office on Aug 7. 

--BERNAMA-XINHUA