In an official recount of ballots mandated by the Supreme Judiciary Council in Bogota, 253 of 2,012 polling stations were not counted, despite the order which states that all ballots should be counted, according to one of Colombia’s political parties.
Of the total 2,012 polling stations in the Colombian capital of Bogotá, 253 were not counted (12.57%), leading to an official declaration from MIRA, an evangelical Christian political party in Colombia that regularly denounces corruption within the political system.
MORE: Colombia electoral authorities to recount 14% of Senate votes
“This is a situation we’ve already discussed, and the result is extremely worrying for the democracy of our country, because in these 253 polling stations there were the votes of at least 70,000 citizens that participated in the last legislative elections,” MIRA President and ex-Senator Carlos Baena stated in a press release.
Then Senator Carlos Baena of the MIRA denounced the corruption in the 2014 Congressional elections, called among the most fraudulent in history, even going to the Inter-American Commission Human Rights (IAHRC) to denounce the corruption and accuse the Colombian state of politically persecuting the MIRA by refusing to allow them power.
With respect to the political persecution case, Baena stated that “We have all the proof in the world, the way they created a montage, they edited videos, and the persecution by some mediums of communication, and the three Senate seats they stole from us,” reported Caracol Radio in March.
The MIRA, despite gaining 2.28% of the total vote did not win a single seat in the Senate despite having three senators in the 2010-2014 term. The MIRA did, however, win three seats in the House of Representatives, allowing the party to continue in its current form without being forced to fold or reorganize.
MORE: Colombia’s 2014 congressional elections election results
Shown below are the electoral polling stations (called “mesas” in Colombia) that were missing from the official vote recount, that the MIRA says are likely stealing potential seats in the Senate from the party.
Sources
- MIRA pedirá medidas cautelares a la CIDH por persecución política (Caracol Radio)
- No aparecen los votos de 253 mesas en Bogotá (MIRA Movimiento Político)
