Racial exclusion, lack of faith in institutions and pressure by armed groups on vulnerable populations are three of the main reasons for the high rate of electoral abstentionism in Colombia, a situation that was reflected in the first round of the presidential elections on May 29.
This was pointed out by a group of lawyers for the Defense of Free Elections in the Pacific in their report "El Voto es PacÃfico o no Será", where they denounce that there are irregularities in the voting environment that affect the low participation in the exercise of the vote.
In this sense, they emphasized that such irregularities were centered on: the placement of polling places, rain damage, lack of accreditation of electoral witnesses, as well as fear of the presence of armed groups.
Although the first round of Colombia's elections took place in a peaceful manner, as there were no violent acts by armed groups, there were disturbances in public order in regions such as Caquetá, Atlántico, QuindÃo, Guaviare and Arauca, they detailed.
Likewise, the document states that there were complaints that were made known to the national and international community and that the committee registered, such as: delays in the installation of some polling places and juries due to rain, problems in the accreditation of some electoral witnesses and the capture of three persons linked to electoral irregularities.
The collective explained that, due to the denunciations made in the last legislative elections of March 13, which evidenced a fraud on the part of the National Registrar's OfficeIn the last few years, distrust has become more relevant among citizens.
Thus, the regions with the highest abstention rate were Bagadó and Chocó with 71 percent; in Buenaventura in Valle it reached 60 percent; in López de Micay in Cauca 66.57 percent; and in Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé in Nariño 72.08 percent; while in the Pacific Coast as a whole, abstention reached 55.65 percent.
With an approximate population of one million 600 thousand people and an electoral potential of one million 229 thousand 280 voters, the Pacific Coast region did not have the expected response at the polls due to the high rate of abstentionism that, although it had the lowest level in the last 20 years, was only one percent lower than the 2018 lessons.
According to the text, the Pacific region and a large part of the so-called "periphery", voted mostly for the candidate Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez, obtaining more than one million 962 thousand 391 votes in the four departments.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire by illegal armed groups such as the ELN allowed for an election day without alterations to public order; however, many Pacific communities reported that the groups were present in their territories.
It is worth noting that the collective points out that in the departments of the Pacific region such as Chocó or Cauca, there are indices of more than 50 percent of monetary impoverishment of its population; while departments such as Antioquia or Bogotá, recorded figures of 29.30 and 35.80 percent, respectively in 2021.
This, they stressed, is evidence that approximately half of the population of Chocó and Cauca, that is, more than 900,000 citizens live on less than five thousand pesos a day (1 dollar and 42 cents).
It is important to note that in the first four months of this year, they emphasized, there were more than 78,900 victims of massive displacement and confinement at the national level, which shows that impoverishment has also influenced abstentionism in the area.
You may be interested in: Colombian elections: between the right of Fico and the left of Petro and Marquez
