Colombia’s electoral authority has received hundreds of new allegations of electoral fraud in March’s congressional elections, local media reported on Tuesday.
A total of 65o new electoral fraud claims were reported and are in the process of being investigated by the National Electoral Council in relation to the congressional elections held on March 9.
Pablo Gil, President of the National Electoral Council gave until April 4 as the deadline for political parties and electoral commissions to submit any fraud claims in order for the council to have enough time to study them all.
According to Gil, the majority of the claims have come from the Independent Political Movemente, MIRA, which is asking for vote re-counts in certain areas due to irregularities in the process, reported El Pais newspaper.
The claims were distributed to Magistrate offices throughout Colombia on Monday who will have an unspecified amount of time to work through the requests.
MORE: Elections in Soledad, Colombia’s ‘electoral fraud capital’
Electoral fraud was a big problem in the March elections, according to the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), an NGO that monitors electoral processes in Colombia. The organization’s spokesperson told Colombia Reports that “we have never received this many complaints about election fraud” since the organization’s foundation in 2007.
Sources
- CNE estudia 650 reclamaciones por irregularidades electorales (El Pais)
- CNE estudia 650 reclamaciones por irregularidades electorales (El Colombiano)
