Presidential candidate Antanas Mockus on Wednesday reported procedural irregularities witnessed by his party during the first round of Colombia’s elections, which he believes may have affected the outcome.
The Green Party candidate went to the Inspector General’s Office with complaints that during the election on May 30, employees of government social program Familias en Accion were offering voters rewards in return for voting for Partido de la U candidate, Juan Manuel Santos.
According to news site CM&, Mockus presented officials with testimonies from beneficiaries of Familias en Accion who had received such offers.
Mockus’ official complaint also involved alleged police harassment of members of his party.
The candidate submitted a list of police officials whose actions on the day of the election, according to his sources, may have prevented election officials from fully carrying out their duties.
Mockus was beaten by a surprisingly large margin in the first round of Colombia’s presidential elections, receiving half the number of votes of Santos, the front-runner, after being neck-and-neck in the polls. He will go head-to-head with Santos in a second round election on June 20.
