Colombia’s national registrar Carlos Ariel Sanchez acknowledged on Thursday that the risk of fraud during Sunday’s presidential election has not been eliminated and that there may still exist “electoral mafias” wishing to sabotage the election, reported Colombian media.
Sanchez explained that although government officials are working to reduce the risk of fraud, “problems persist” that must be overcome before Sunday’s election.
The Colombian voting official said that the Prosecutor General’s office and Supreme Court are still conducting thorough investigations into the numerous procedural irregularities that took place during Colombia’s congressional elections in March, in order that they may not be repeated this weekend.
The registrar said that officials are still searching for those responsible for the procedural failures during March’s election.
Sanchez announced two weeks ago that 40,000 people selected to be supervisors at polling stations in the upcoming presidential elections have been disqualified due to risk of fraud and inconsistencies in the documentation they presented to the Electoral Council.
The announcement came a week after the Organization of American States released a damning report on Colombia’s handling of its March congressional elections, which cited about 15,000 irregularities across eighteen of the country’s departments, including amongst others the training of election officials, the clarity of the ballot papers and the processing and presentation of election results.