Colombia’s first round of presidential elections concluded with the fastest tallying of votes in the history of the country, according to the national registrar.
National Registrar Carlos Ariel Sanchez confirmed that the results of Sunday’s elections were delivered in record-breaking time, Caracol Radio reported on Sunday.
According to Sanchez, “In one hour and three minutes, the National Registry reported that 94% of the polling stations” had completed counting votes.
As of 5:55PM Sunday, the National Registry issued Bulletin 22, which recorded 99.6% of the voting booths. That means 89,011 out of 89,389 voting booths were accounted for, representing 40% of all Colombian citizens, living both within the country and abroad, who were eligible to vote.
In the vice presidential elections of 2010, the National Registry reported 95% of the voting booths in 90 minutes.
Sanchez acknowledged that the beefed-up security presence of the armed forces at polling stations allowed for a smooth election process and said that “this has been one of the most peaceful election processes in Colombia.”
The registrar went on to praise the work and speed of the ballot counters and other officials of the National Registry saying, “the speed of the delivery of the results today is due to joint efforts from more than one year.”
The next round of presidential elections, in which incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos will square-off against Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, will take place June 15 between 8AM and 4PM.