Antioquia Confirms Support for Abelardo De la Espriella in Presidential Runoff

Antioquia, a key department in Colombia, has once again tipped the national electoral scales, with Abelardo De la Espriella consolidating his victory in the presidential election's second round. The Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil reported that with nearly 100 percent of the votes counted, De la Espriella garnered 2,167,489 votes, representing 64.4 percent of the valid ballots cast in the department.

This result marks a substantial increase in support for De la Espriella compared to the first round. He secured over 444,000 more votes in Antioquia than in the initial round, where he received 1,723,406 votes. In Medellín, the department's capital, De la Espriella achieved a strong showing with 810,458 votes.

His opponent, Iván Cepeda, secured the second position in Antioquia with 1,120,938 votes. This also represented an increase from the first round, where he obtained 805,652 votes in the region, adding over 315,000 supporters. In Medellín, Cepeda received 416,171 votes.

Overall voter participation in Antioquia for this second round stood at 62.3 percent, with 3,387,227 out of 5,448,240 eligible citizens casting their ballots. This turnout is higher than the 58.90 percent recorded in the first round, indicating increased engagement from the electorate. The election day proceeded with general normality, despite a few isolated incidents.