Colombians living abroad are still waiting for the appointment of their representative in Congress, one month after the March 14 elections, following electoral irregularities and delays in vote-counting, reports Conexion Colombia.
Colombian voters in Mexico complained of a lack of support and information from those responsible for the elections.
“This creates an atmosphere of suspicion about the transparency of the results overseas; especially as the number of votes in the international constituency is so small. It is estimated that the number of votes in these elections will not exceed. Indeed, we saw an abstention of nearly 85%,” said Mauricio Trujillo, the candidate for Polo Democratico Alternativo.
The candidate for the Compromiso Ciudadano party, Hernando Piñeres, was unhappy with the way the election day was organized, and attacked the poor training of the electoral officials.
“The inadequate preparation of the jurors, who in many cases did not even sign the ballots, as required by law, made many of the votes invalid,” said Piñeres.
There have been complaints over the misuse of information as well as voting irregularities.
Eleven candidates criticised the use of official information from the Colombian Consulate in New York to promote the political campaign of former consul, Jaime Buenahora, through letters sent to the homes of registered Colombians.
Buenahora rejected this accusation and said the recipients of the letters were found by his campaign team.
Despite accepting blame for the irregularities and vote counting delays in last Month’s elections, Sanchez claims that delays in sending the ballots to be counted are the reason that a Congress representative for the Colombian diaspora has yet to be appointed.
“The consulates where the polls are held are … those responsible for their delivery,” said Sanchez.
Approximately seventeen candidates residing in the U.S. or Canada are vying for the seat in the Colombian legislature, as well as two candidates living in Europe, and two in Venezuela.