Although President Gustavo Petro has held practically every popularly elected office that exists in Colombia, except that of governor, thanks to the country’s robust electoral system, he has been intensifying his attacks against the National Registry Office and warning of alleged electoral fraud in the upcoming presidential elections, without so far presenting any evidence.
Petro, who was elected councilman of Zipaquira (1984-1986), member of the House of Representatives (1991-1994 and 1998-2006), mayor of Bogota (2012-2015), senator of the Republic (2006-2010 and 2018-2022), and president of the country (2022-2026), is now promoting a narrative that casts doubt on that same electoral system that allowed him to access those offices, and which finds an echo among several ministers of his cabinet and members of Congress from the Historic Pact, the coalition that brought him to power.
Colombian electoral system is ‘extraordinarily solid and robust’
As is natural, the one receiving the barrage of discrediting is the national registrar, Hernan Penagos, who, in different settings, has been showing the reliability offered by the processes involved in the presidential elections, a situation that has even been verified, among other organizations, by the Electoral Observation Mission of the European Union in Colombia, which has deployed 150 observers in the country.
The deputy head of that Mission, the Spaniard Jose Antonio de Gabriel, has highlighted the measures adopted by the Registry Office to strengthen guarantees, transparency and confidence in the Colombian electoral process. “The measures adopted by the registrar to answer the questions have yielded good results,” he stated, and highlighted the traceability and manual nature of the vote-counting processes. To conclude, he assured that the Colombian electoral system is “extraordinarily solid and robust.”
But the one who placed the greatest emphasis on the transparency and reliability of elections in Colombia, and rejected President Petro’s statements, was Registrar Penagos. During the forum “Why are elections in Colombia reliable?”, he warned that it is false that the Registry Office lacks control over technological tools and issued an alert over what the head of state says, which could trigger a wave of violence.
“In Colombia, unlike many nations, disinformation generates death. And I am sorry to say it, but that is how it is: disinformation in Europe generates political hostility; in Colombia, death,” Penagos said, and did not hesitate to repeat it: “In Colombia, disinformation causes citizens to kill each other. Why do we not understand that we all have to take care of this country? I do everything that has to be done, but to say that because a source code is not handed over, there is no clarity, the electoral process is false.”
Call for citizens to inform themselves and not allow themselves to be manipulated
“Who would think that the Registry Office’s software has to be handed over? Risking handing over a source code, which once observed could give rise to impersonations, incidents that end up altering things, or hackers having the opportunity to see how they can distort it, that is never going to happen, because democracy must be protected first,” Penagos said, drawing applause.
In his campaign to guarantee that Colombians can safely go to the polls, Penagos also attended the second Commanders’ Meeting held at the General Santander Police School in Bogota, where he called for the necessary security guarantees for the normal development of the presidential elections next May 31.
Penagos reiterated that decisive action by the security forces is necessary to guarantee not only the right to vote of all Colombians, but the right to free voting. “The objective is for all polling stations and voting tables to be installed, as occurred in March in the congressional elections, so that citizens can go out to vote, but, more than that, so that they can go out to vote freely, that is, that in addition to exercising political rights, those rights are exercised freely,” he said.
He emphasized that coordinated work between police commanders throughout the country and the departmental delegates of the Registry Office is decisive to ensure the installation of polling stations and voting tables.
At the same time, he highlighted the leadership of the Police in the departments and made a special request to them: “You are decisive in transmitting calm to citizens. Help us ensure that Colombian society remains calm about the electoral process, that citizens inform themselves and do not allow themselves to be manipulated.”