One in four Colombians know someone who received money or goods in return for their vote in past elections, according to a poll published Tuesday by an electoral NGO.
In the poll by the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) 25.3% of the interviewees said they know someone who has sold his vote. Of the respondents, 1.6% admitted having sold their own vote.
Some 11% said they knew of people who had received government subsidies for selling their vote.
The situation seems most alarming in Colombia’s Caribbean region, where in the cities of Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Monteria 51% of the interviewees said they knew someone who sold their vote for money or goods and 21% said they knew someone who received a government subsidy after selling their vote.
During the March 2010 congressional elections, 50 people were arrested on fraud allegations following the March 2010 congressional elections.
