Óscar Iván Zuluaga with his daughter (Photo: Twitter Óscar Iván Zuluaga)
ElectionsNews

Presidential candidate Zuluaga votes in Colombia’s decisive 2nd round elections

by Camilo Mejia Giraldo

Presidential hopeful Oscar Ivan Zuluaga cast his vote Sunday morning in Colombia’s final round of presidential elections.

Through his personal twitter account, the hardline Democratic Center (Centro Democratico) candidate shared a picture of himself voting alongside his daughter and called the run-off election the start of a “new time” for Colombia.

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“Let’s go in force to the polling stations to vote for a better country. A new time will begin,” he added in a following tweet.

Zuluaga’s vote closely followed that of incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos, who he beat by four points in first round elections and who cast his ballot just after polling stations opened throughout the country at 8AM.

“I am making an invitation to all Colombians who support the country to come out and vote,” Santos stated after casting his vote, adding that “I invite all to vote with our conscience and with tranquillity in defence to democracy.”

MORE: President Santos submits vote in Colombia presidential elections

Both candidates failed to garner the majority of votes required during the presidential election’s first round, which took place on May 25, resulting in Sunday’s run-off vote. Zuluaga came in first with 29% of a historically low vote, while Santos brought in 24%.

The second round vote is expected to produce the tightest presidential race in recent history with support polls placing the two candidates neck and neck.

Zuluaga and Santos both seconded the National Registrar’s Office’s call on the country’s citizens to vote, after record 60% abstention rate during the May 25 elections.

 

MORE: Colombia’s voters need to give ‘legitimacy’ to elections: National Registrar

A total of 10,642 polling stations have been set up to receive the nation’s 32,975,158 eligible voters, of which 17,129,768 are women and 15,845,390 men.

Sources