Electoral observers on Wednesday reported an unusually high increase in voter registrations, an indicator of possible voter fraud, for upcoming mayoral elections in Bogota.
The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) said that the amount of people registered to vote has more than doubled in the Martires, Candelaria and Teusaquillo neighborhoods.
According to the MOE, Bogota is known to have low electoral participation in all of its local elections, compared to the rest of the country, with 47.4% turnout in the mayoral elections compared to the 57.3% national average.
The director of the MOE, Aura Rodriguez said that,”in neighborhoods like Candelaria the registration of voters has increased by 213% in one month. In Martires it increased by 125% between July and August and in Teusaquillo the abnormal behavior increased by 97% in 27 days.”
Rodriguez called to the authorities “to investigate the irregularities”, mentioning previous cases in the neighborhoods of Egipto and Concordia where citizens were buying and selling votes.
Bogota’s local elections will take place on October 25 where the people will vote for a mayor, 45 members of the District Council and the members of the Local Administrative Boards for the 20 localities of the city.