The voting tables in Colombia have closed and the counting of ballots has begun to find out who will be the next president of the country. Citizens have expressed their right to vote through ballots that show an exercise that has not been easy for several communities, in view of this, the collective VotoPacífico has presented a presidential election assessment of Sunday's election day.
The data count, said the lawyers' collective, reflects the most important events that affected the electoral process this Sunday, the accumulated irregularities reported by citizens and the human rights violations that have occurred during this day in the Pacific region and other parts of the country.
In Cali, they detailed, there were several irregularities in different areas of the city, starting with blank ballot papers marked in white - Colegio Navia Varón, voting table number 13, Colegio fe y alegría, table 15; and vote buying in the Colegio de la Mutis, Terrón Colorado neighborhood, by officials or persons close to the Registrar's Office, identified with green shirts, who pretended to check identification cards, but instead offered $50,000 per vote.
Another situation related to vote buying occurred in the Olaya Herrera School ?post 002? in the city of Cali, where there was also an aggression against citizens who act as electoral witnesses of the Historical Pact, according to the recount.
On June 18, in the city of Pasto, two people were captured with approximately one billion pesos that were allegedly going to be used for the direct purchase of votes in favor of candidate Rodolfo Hernandez 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, blank ballot boxes were reported to have been marked on several ballot papers, as well as in the city of Popayán, Cauca, at the Melvin Johnson school, table number 2.
In Jamundí, Valle, there was scarce public transportation service in the city, making it difficult for people to travel 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 post, in Paéz, Cauca, was also delayed in its opening due to the road closure 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 there was crossfire in the territory.
They highlighted that this Sunday, two supporters of the coalition Pacto Histórico 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 arbitrarily attacked and detained by the police, they said.
Also on this election day, they reported that human rights defender Ersain de Jesús Ramirez was killed by hired killers 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 a family with seven children, as well as Roberto Carlos Rivas, president of a community action board and electoral witness of the Historical 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. on Sunday until 5:00 a.m. on Monday, June 20.
In addition to the above, in support of the electoral process, the National Army in the village of Vetas, 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 wounded soldiers.
"Compared to the first round elections, today, many more incidents, irregularities and human rights violations were reported in the Pacific region, leaving a balance that does not cease to concern and alert the present VotoPacifico lawyers' campaign".
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