The most guarded vote in the history of Colombia has ended and a close result is expected

The campaign showed a deeply divided country between two opposing options, the ruling social democrat Ivan Cepeda and the right-wing populist Abelardo De la Espriella.

More than 41.4 million Colombians were eligible to vote at 122,016 tables distributed in 13,742 voting stations throughout the country, in the midst of an imposing security operation after a campaign full of threats and under fear of incidents if, as expected, the results are very close.

The Ministry of Defense mobilized 408,000 members of the Military and Police Forces to guarantee the security of the elections and avoid interference by illegal armed groups, mainly in some rural areas where threats to voters and the civilian population in general were reported.

Shortly before the closing of the voting centers, the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Cristian Quiroz, announced that the “most guarded election day in the history of the country” was experienced without incident, it was “a celebration of democracy in peace.”

In the first round, on May 31, De la Espriella, from the Defenders of the Homeland movement, obtained 10.3 million votes (43.78%), while Cepeda, from the Historical Pact, came second with 9.7 million (40.98%), despite the fact that previous polls gave him the winner.

De la Espriella was one of the first to vote, shortly after 8 a.m. in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla, in the north of the country. Dressed in the yellow shirt of the Colombian soccer team, as he did during almost his entire campaign, he called to vote to “defeat tyranny.”

Accompanied by his wife and four children, he greeted the followers who were waiting for him in front of the school where he voted and assured: “We are going to defeat the regime with the fervor of the Colombian people and the help of God. Today Colombia wins, stand firm for the country.”

The day has arrived!

Today the most important game in Colombia is played. Today we decide the future of our country and the future of our children.

With the help of God and the support of millions of Colombians, we are going to win this democratic battle.

I ask you to leave early to… pic.twitter.com/lgtoWM7fnE

— Abelardo De La Espriella (@ABDELAESPRIELLA) June 21, 2026

Outside there were shouts of “President, president”, “Petro out” and “Sign for the country”, the motto of his campaign. Shortly before, the candidate had published a video on social networks in which he called to “put the line on the Tiger.”

Cepeda, meanwhile, also sent a message in X, where he stated: “Today I will be your president.”

Cepeda arrived at mid-morning at the San Lucas School voting station, in the Kennedy neighborhood, in the south of Bogotá, amid harangues from his followers and accompanied by some members of his party.

“We have carried out a clean, transparent, honest campaign in which we have presented to the general public our ideas, our program, our principles, our path and destiny for Colombia in the coming years,” Cepeda told journalists who were waiting for him outside, after leaving his vote in the ballot box.

My name is Iván Cepeda Castro and today I will be your President. 🫰🇨🇴

— Iván Cepeda President (@VamosConIvan) June 21, 2026

President Petro also got up very early and before 8 in the morning he gave a speech to the country, in which he called to vote and respect democracy.

Dressed completely in white, Petro voted this Sunday for the last time as president of Colombia and assured that he will not stay another second in office on August 7, when his term ends.

“The first fact that must be validated today is that the president of Colombia does not go one second beyond the mandate given to him by his people, I obey my people,” he said, to remove speculation about the possibility that he will refuse to hand over power if his political opponent wins.

“We delivered a brilliant, lively, multicolored democracy, as I call it, not one degree less and many more degrees of democracy than I received in a country that at that time was bloodied,” said the first left-wing president that the country elected, after decades of conservative governments.