The voting tables in Colombia have closed and the counting of ballots has begun to determine who will be the next president of the country. Citizens have expressed their right through ballots that reflect an exercise that has not been easy for various communities, in light of this, the collective VotoPacífico has presented a presidential election assessment of Sunday's election day.
The recount of data, the group of lawyers stated, reflects the most important events that affected the electoral process this Sunday, the accumulation of irregularities reported by citizens and the violations of human rights that have occurred during this day in the Pacific region and other places in the country.
In Cali, they explained, there were several irregularities in different areas of the city, starting with ballots marked in white ‒Colegio Navia Varón, voting table number 13, Colegio fe y alegría, table 15‒; and vote buying at Colegio de la Mutis, Terrón Colorado neighborhood, by officials or people close to the Registry, identified with green shirts, who simulated checking ballots, but instead offered $50,000 per vote.
Another situation regarding vote buying occurred at the Olaya Herrera School - booth 002 - in the city of Cali, where there was also aggression against citizens who act as electoral witnesses for the Historic Pact, the count indicated.
On June 18, in the city of Pasto, two people were arrested with approximately one billion pesos that were allegedly going to be used for the direct purchase of votes in favor of the candidate Rodolfo Hernández in the Pacific region, however, an official report from the authorities is still awaited.
At the INTERPO voting point, an educational institution in the Bellavista neighborhood of Buenaventura and in the municipality of Magüi Payán, Nariño, the marking of the blank vote box was reported on several electoral cards, as well as in the city of Popayán, Cauca, at the Melvin Johnson school, table number 2.
In Jamundí, Valle, there was little public transportation service in the city, making it difficult for people to get to their polling stations; while in the municipality of Ancuya, Nariño, table 9, marked ballots were handed out, more frequently when the person who voted was elderly.
He added that the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) reported that the Mosoco polling station in Paéz, Cauca, was also delayed in opening due to the closure of the road caused by the landslide that left eight people dead.
Human Rights
Since 7:30 a.m., in the Campo Hermoso inspection, Caquetá, it was reported that the National Army repressed the community in general where crossfire occurred in the territory.
They highlighted that this Sunday, two supporters of the Historic Pact coalition were murdered in the San Martín neighborhood of the municipality of Guapí, Cauca, who were accredited as electoral witnesses in Gustavo Petro's campaign.
Meanwhile, members of the Historic Pact campaign team in the municipality of Colón/Génova, Nariño, were attacked and arbitrarily detained by the police, they added.
Also on this election day, they reported that human rights defender Ersain de Jesús Ramirez was murdered by hitmen in the municipality of Patía el Bordó, Cauca.
Thus, they said, two massacres were perpetrated in the municipality of Guapi with nine people killed in 24 hours, among them a mother of seven children, as well as Roberto Carlos Rivas, president of the communal action board and electoral witness of the Historic Pact.
As a result of the situation in Guapi, they explained, the mayor of the municipality, by decree 42 of 2022, ordered a curfew throughout the territory from 5:00 p.m. this Sunday until 5:00 a.m. on Monday, June 20.
In addition to the above, the National Army, in support of the electoral process in the village of Vetas, a rural area of the municipality of Tibú, Norte de Santander, was affected by the detonation of an explosive device allegedly installed by the ELN, resulting in six soldiers being injured.
«Compared to the first round of elections, today many more incidents, irregularities and human rights violations were reported in the Pacific region, leaving a balance that continues to worry and alert the current VotoPacifico lawyers' campaign.»
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