Colombia’s presidential elections officially began overseas with the opening of the first polling stations in New Zealand, the country that marked the start of the voting process for Colombians living outside the national territory.
At 3:00 p.m. on Sunday in Colombia, when it was already Monday morning in Auckland, the polling station set up at the Colombian consulate in that city opened, becoming the first in the world to receive voters for the May 31 presidential election.
The opening in Auckland was followed, just hours later, by the gradual start of voting in other countries across East Asia and Oceania, following the international time zones.
Tokyo, Beijing, and other cities also began receiving Colombian citizens living abroad who will take part in an election considered decisive for the country’s political future. The international voting period will continue throughout the week and conclude on the same day as the election in Colombia.
Related: Colombia: Carlos Caicedo Withdraws His Presidential Candidacy and Backs Cepeda.
Colombian presidential election: overseas voting gets underway
The process officially began at Colombia’s consulate in Auckland, where diplomatic authorities set up the first polling station of the presidential election process. From Bogota, the opening was monitored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the National Electoral Council (CNE), who followed the symbolic start of the election from the San Carlos Palace, headquarters of Colombia’s Foreign Ministry.
“For the 2026 elections, the overseas electoral roll increased by 45.42% compared to the 2022 presidential elections,” said Colombia’s top diplomat, Rosa Villavicencio.
The time difference once again made New Zealand the first country in the world to open polling stations for Colombians abroad. While Sunday afternoon was still underway in Colombia, voting began in Auckland at 8:00 a.m. local time on Monday. Shortly afterward, other Colombian consulates in Asia also began the electoral process.
The start of voting was accompanied by institutional messages emphasizing the importance of participation by Colombians living outside the country.
Diplomatic and electoral officials highlighted that overseas voting has become an increasingly significant component of national elections due to the sustained growth in the number of citizens registered outside Colombia.
Unlike the process inside the country, where presidential elections are held in a single day, the overseas voting process extends over an entire week. Polling stations will remain open from May 25 through May 31 at embassies and consulates authorized by the National Civil Registry.
The measure seeks to facilitate participation for Colombians residing in other countries and avoid congestion at diplomatic offices. Each polling station will operate between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., according to the local time of each country.
The National Civil Registry also reminded voters that citizens may only cast their ballots by presenting a Colombian national ID card, either in its traditional physical version or in digital format. Documents such as passports or temporary identification receipts will not be valid for voting.
En el Palacio de San Carlos, la Canciller Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, junto al
Presidente del Consejo Nacional Electoral, Magistrado Cristian Ricardo Quiroz Romero, el Registrador Delegado para lo Electoral, Jaime Hernando Suárez Bayona, el Viceministro del Interior, Jaime… pic.twitter.com/McAthnZrMY— Cancillería Colombia (@CancilleriaCol) May 24, 2026
More than 1.4 million people will vote from abroad
For this presidential election, Colombia’s electoral roll reached 41.4 million citizens eligible to vote. Of that total, nearly 1.4 million are registered abroad, a figure that confirms the growing weight of the Colombian diaspora within the country’s democratic processes.
Electoral authorities authorized 253 polling stations across 67 countries to serve Colombians living abroad. The United States and Spain account for the largest numbers of registered voters (with 454,262 and 307,996 registered voters, respectively), followed by Venezuela, Canada, and Chile, although polling stations have also been established in regions with smaller Colombian communities, such as Oceania and several Asian countries.
According to official figures, the number of Colombians eligible to vote abroad increased significantly compared to previous presidential elections. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the growth of the overseas electoral roll reflects both the increase in Colombian migration and the political interest of those who maintain ties with the country despite living outside its borders.
The opening of voting also comes amid a presidential campaign marked by political polarization and anticipation surrounding the first-round results. During the final weeks of the campaign, the various candidates also focused their efforts on mobilizing Colombians abroad, aware that in a close election every vote could prove decisive.
While campaigns in Colombia enter their final hours, thousands of citizens in different parts of the world have already begun heading to consulates and embassies to take part in the presidential election. The first ballot cast in Auckland thus opened a crucial week that will determine who succeeds Gustavo Petro in the presidency for the 2026–2030 term.