Voter turnout in Colombia’s 2nd round election up 7 percentage points

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Candidate profiles Juan Manuel Santos Oscar Ivan Zuluaga

Colombia’s second presidential round on Sunday turned out over 7% more voters than the first round on May 25, according to the National Registry.

The agency reported that 47.7% of eligible Colombians, 15.7 million voters, exercised their right to vote during the second presidential round. With 99% of votes counted, 17.2 million Colombians, or 52% of eligible voters, have decided to abstain during Colombia’s second presidential round.

There have been huge gains in turnout since the first round in many regions of Colombia.

In the northern state of Atlantico, the turnout just about doubled from 24.28% in the first round to 41.38%.

In the eastern state of Santander, it rose from 44.36 to 53.23% and, also in the east, the state of Norte de Santander went from 37.32% to 46.4%.

In all three states, the majority of the vote went to Santos.

Voter turnout per state

Over 2.5 million more Colombians have voted compared to the first presidential round, in which opposition candidate Zuluaga won the most votes.

According to Colombia’s National Registry, 40% or 13.2 million eligible Colombians voted during the first presidential round. Democratic Center candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga won the first round with a 3% lead on President Juan Manuel Santos.

The turnout in Colombia’s second presidential round marks a significant improvement in a voter participation that had dropped close to 10% during the first round, compared to the 2010 presidential elections.

Santos was elected in 2010 in a landslide victory, with 49% of eligible Colombians going to the polls. Participation in the election of Colombia’s president is nonetheless in decline from previous elections.

MORE: Nearly 60% of voters stay home for Colombia elections

The blank vote, a vote for neither candidate, decreased in the second round, constituting just over 4% compared to almost 6% of blank votes registered during the first presidential round.

Sources

• Elección de Presidente y Vicepresidente 2ª Vuelta (Registraduria)