The Organization of American States (OAS) will send 74 observers to monitor Colombia’s second round of presidential elections, the body announced Thursday in a press release.
The OAS announced that the second round of Colombia’s presidential elections will be monitored by 74 observers coming from 25 countries.
The delegation, entitled the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States, is lead by ex-Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres, and will be present in 24 of Colombia’s 32 states.
“Since the previous elections, the Mission has carried out a comprehensive analysis of the electoral process that includes issues such as electoral technology, campaign financing, electoral security, the vote abroad, and the resolution of electoral disputes,” read the press release.
OAS observers have already been present in the first round of the presidential elections, sending 53 delegates.
MORE: OAS Observers to Monitor Colombia Presidential Election
The state agency in charge of receiving, analyzing, and referring complaints of the electoral process to the appropriate authorities, URIEL, said in a release on Monday that there were 4,636 reports of electoral irregularities this year.
According to Deputy Minister of the Interior Natalia Gutierrez Jaramillo, of the thousands of complaints, 1,426 were directly related to the presidential elections.
Attention has been drawn to overseas voting, and the National Electoral Council has been asked to take additional measures to control electoral fraud overseas, Colombia’s Foreign Ministry announced in a press release on Tuesday.
MORE: Colombia racks up nearly 5000 election complaints: govt agency
The presidential elections will take place Sunday, June 15, and the battle will be held between candidates Oscar Ivan Zuluaga (Democratic Center — Centro Democratico) and incumbent President Juan Manuel (U Party — Partido de la U).
MORE: Zuluaga vs Santos: The proposals
The OAS will release the report on the elections on Monday, the day after the presidential elections and will also deliver a report to the Permanent Council of the Organization.
Source
- OAS Mission Deploys 74 Observers for the Second Round of Elections in Colombia (OAS press release)