The head of Colombia’s electoral body announced that the results of the first round of presidential elections should be declared between 8PM and 10PM Sunday evening, local media reported on Saturday.
Colombian Registrar Carlos Ariel Sanchez claimed that all of the votes should be counted by 8PM, but that by no later than 10PM Sunday night, the results should be official, according to Caracol Radio.
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“The first bulletin is at 4:10PM more or less, and every five minutes another bulletin will be produced, and we hope to reach 99% of the results to be very clear of the people who will able to go to the second round,” said Sanchez.
The registrar also went on to describe security measures and backup plans in the event that complications arise during the election process.
In the case of sporadic power outages in any of the municipalities in the country, emergency backup plants are in place, according to Sanchez.
Furthermore, the head of the electoral body stated that the National Registry has taken all necessary security measures for their networks and systems to ensure that they will be protected from hackers.
Commenting on last March’s congressional elections, Sanchez said, “In March, we had the satisfaction of delivering 98.4% of the results that same night, and we were not subject to any cyber attack that could endanger the information.”
The registrar also informed that 100% of all the election materials have already been delivered to all the 1,102 municipalities in the country and that in the event of a possible second round of presidential elections, the logistics will be handled the same way and “all that will change will be the ballot.”
A total of 32,975,158 Colombian voters are eligible to vote today in 10,642 polling stations across the country, according to Telesur TV.
None of the five candidates are expected to bring in the absolute majority necessary for a first round victory.