Colombian Candidate Cepeda Finds No Major Election Irregularities

Iván Cepeda, the presidential candidate for Colombia's left-wing Pacto Histórico coalition, announced Monday that his campaign has found no evidence of irregularities substantial enough to challenge the results of the first round of presidential elections. Cepeda secured second place in Sunday's vote.

During a press conference in Bogotá, Cepeda stated, "We have proceeded to conduct verifications, and so far, I must say, we have not found evidence at this moment of facts of a magnitude or depth that warrant a pronouncement on potential irregularities." His declaration sought to de-escalate political tensions that emerged after the polls closed.

The campaign had initiated a rigorous internal process of observation, control, and verification of vote tallies overnight. This was partly in response to initial doubts cast by President Gustavo Petro, who had expressed strong criticism of the country's electoral bodies and questioned the preliminary results released by the National Registry Office.

President Petro had previously taken to social media to denounce the "pre-count" results, calling them unofficial and claiming a discrepancy of "800,000 additional people" in the electoral roll. While Cepeda initially supported this concern, he later moderated his stance after reviewing his own campaign's reports from polling stations.

"I must also say this clearly, because I am an honest, rigorous person in that regard, we have not found evidence, indications of major irregularities," Cepeda acknowledged. Despite this, the Pacto Histórico candidate indicated that the campaign would maintain institutional caution and await the conclusion of the official final scrutiny, which is legally certified by the Republic's judges.