CNE Declares Abelardo De la Espriella President-Elect of Colombia

Abelardo De la Espriella has been officially declared president-elect of Colombia after the National Electoral Council (CNE) ratified his victory with 12,960,166 votes, defeating Iván Cepeda who obtained 12,708,312 votes in the June 21 runoff. The CNE ordered the delivery of credentials to De la Espriella and his running mate, José Manuel Restrepo, for the 2026–2030 term Source: portafolioco.

The Vote

In the second round, De la Espriella’s margin was 251,854 votes. The final tally included 427,026 blank votes, 220,790 null votes, and 28,666 unmarked ballots, for a total of 26,344,960 ballots cast Source: portafolioco. La Silla Vacía noted that De la Espriella’s vote count increased by 624 from the preliminary count, while Cepeda’s dropped by 400 Source: lasillavacia.

Opposition Acceptance

Both Cepeda and his vice-presidential candidate Aida Quilcué have accepted opposition seats in Congress—Cepeda in the Senate, Quilcué in the Chamber of Representatives. Cepeda stated, “Asumo esta curul con dignidad y responsabilidad democrática” Source: lasillavacia. The Pacto Histórico also withdrew its electoral challenges, acknowledging the result Source: lasillavacia. President Gustavo Petro has not yet publicly conceded but has initiated transition preparations Source: lasillavacia.