Colombia’s National Electoral Council appointed three extra judges to break a tie vote on whether or not to approve the finances of the re-election referendum.
Colombian media reported that the electoral council appointed Manuel Pretelt, Carlos Isaza, and Felipe Pérez to conduct a new investigation and issue a ruling on the case of the re-election referendum finance.
The electoral council drew the three names from a list of 18 candidates. Pretelt is a member of the conservative party, Isaza is liberal, and Perez belongs to Radical Change.Both Radical Change and the Liberal Party oppose the re-election referendum.
Joaquin Jose Vives, the electoral magistrate charged with the investigation of the case, proposed to bring charges against the referendum promoters, but the council made a tie vote on the case.
Both the Registry and the National Electoral Council established their had been irregularities in the collection of signatutes needed to call for a referendum. A number of companies sponsored the initiative with more money than legally allowed.
