Far-Right Candidate Leads Colombian Presidential Race, Heads to Runoff

Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella has emerged as the frontrunner in Colombia's presidential election, leading the preliminary count after the first round with 43.74% of the vote. De la Espriella, representing the Defensores de la Patria movement, garnered 10,361,499 votes.

His closest rival, leftist Iván Cepeda of the Pacto Histórico party, received 9,688,361 votes, representing 40.90%. This gives De la Espriella a lead of 673,138 votes, or 2.84 percentage points, over Cepeda.

The results defied pre-election polls, which had largely predicted Cepeda to finish ahead of De la Espriella. Both candidates will now proceed to a runoff election scheduled for June 21, as neither managed to secure the required absolute majority in the first round.

Other candidates included Paloma Valencia from the Centro Democrático party, who received 1,639,685 votes (6.92%), Sergio Fajardo with 1,009,073 votes (4.26%), and Claudia López with 255,517 votes (0.95%). Blank votes accounted for 406,970 ballots (1.71%). Voter turnout reached a record high for a first round since 1991, at 57.88%.

President Gustavo Petro's party, Pacto Histórico, has expressed concerns about the preliminary results, citing alleged inconsistencies in the electoral software. Petro himself has stated he does not accept the preliminary count, though specific details of the alleged issues were not provided.