Colombia’s Interior and Justice Minister, Fabio Valencia Cossio, fiercely critized the National Registrar for its delay in counting the votes in Sunday’s Conservative Party primary elections.
In the wake of the very close vote count of the Conservative Party primary being suspended amidst allegations of irregularities, the minister said the National Registrar’s failure to quickly and correctly count the votes “generates serious political tensions, and casts doubt on the legitimacy of the electoral process.”
Valencia requested that the National Elections Board scrutinize the votes, and that the attorney general’s office launch an investigation into the alleged irregularities in the vote-counting process.
The minister also warned that the National Registrar’s performance in this election raises doubts about the agency’s ability to handle the vote counting in the upcoming May presidential election.