President Gustavo Petro sparked a major controversy this Sunday by stating that he does not recognize the results of the presidential election held in Colombia. His remarks came as the vote count was progressing and the results of an election day that could redefine the country’s political landscape were beginning to take shape.
The president’s statements triggered immediate reactions from political leaders, analysts, and opposition sectors, who criticized him for casting doubt on the legitimacy of the process without presenting evidence of fraud or manipulation.
Petro’s position is based on concerns he has been raising for years about the private company Thomas Greg & Sons, one of the firms involved in the technological and logistical infrastructure of Colombia’s electoral processes.
For the president, the participation of that company in the vote pre-counting system raises doubts about the transparency of the process, a criticism he has repeatedly voiced on different occasions since before taking office and which he reiterated after the first election results became known.
The president insisted that his objections are related to confidence in the technological mechanisms used during the election. According to statements he has made in various public appearances, the presence of a private company in tasks considered sensitive to Colombian democracy requires higher levels of oversight, auditing, and control by both the authorities and the public.
Related: Cepeda Joins Petro in Rejecting Colombia’s Presidential Election Results.
Colombia’s Petro refuses to accept election results
Petro’s criticism of Thomas Greg & Sons did not begin with this election. For years he has expressed distrust toward the company, which he has singled out for its extensive involvement in government contracts and its participation in various strategic processes of the Colombian state. That confrontation reached one of its most intense moments during the controversy surrounding the passport contract bidding process, when the government and the company became embroiled in a prolonged political and legal dispute.
In electoral matters, the focus of the president’s objections has been concentrated particularly on the software used for the vote pre-count. This system makes it possible to know preliminary results just a few hours after polling stations close and serves as an informational reference for citizens and the media. However, the official and legally valid results are those subsequently produced through the formal vote tally conducted by the electoral authorities.
Petro has argued that the existence of a private actor with responsibilities in this phase of the process warrants a thorough review of oversight mechanisms. According to his position, electoral transparency should not depend solely on trust in institutions, but also on the possibility of conducting broad and independent audits of technological systems.
“As president, I do not accept the pre-count results from the private firm of the Bautista brothers because, although the counting and tallying software algorithms should have remained unchanged, they were modified three times during the last week, and 800,000 additional ID records were added for people who are not included in the official voter registry presented,” he wrote tonight on his X social media account.
The president added that “there are currently two registries, the official one and the software registry of the Bautista brothers, which contains 800,000 additional people. The polling stations already challenged demonstrate that hundreds of thousands of votes were added without the existence of voters.”
Finally, Petro concluded that “the binding results that the president will observe and accept are those issued by the vote-counting commissions overseen by judges.”
El llamado conteo transmitido no tiene fuerza vinculante. sus datos no son norma pública. Como presidente no acepto los resultados del preconteo de la firma privada de los hermanos Bautista, porque debiendo estar quietos los algoritmos del software de conteo y escrutinios, en la…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) June 1, 2026
Although it is not new, Petro casts doubt on the entire system
The president’s statements quickly sparked controversy following assertions by international observers who validated the transparency of the electoral process. In addition, critics of Gustavo Petro argue that publicly questioning election results without providing concrete evidence can weaken public trust in the democratic system and fuel uncertainty at a particularly sensitive moment for the country.
The controversy once again places Thomas Greg & Sons at the center of public debate and highlights that the relationship between the government and the company remains one of the main sources of political confrontation in Colombia. It also reopens a broader discussion about the role of technology in electoral processes and the mechanisms needed to guarantee public confidence in the results.
Despite the uproar caused by these statements, they have no legal impact, as the president does not have the authority to recognize or reject election results. However, following today’s preliminary count, a period begins during which objections may be filed—as has happened in other elections—before the final tally is confirmed.
As the country awaits the completion of the official vote count, Petro’s remarks have added a new source of tension to a historic election day. Beyond the final outcome at the ballot box, the debate over the transparency of the electoral system and the legitimacy of the vote-counting process promises to remain high on Colombia’s political agenda in the coming days.