Leftists in Colombia get 400,000 more Senate votes after objection

BOGOTA, Colombia

The leftist Historical Pact coalition increased its votes in Sunday's Senate elections in Colombia by nearly 400,000 following a scrutiny after alleging fraud in the counting.

The coalition led by Gustavo Petro had objected to the results, arguing that thousands of their votes were not entered into the system deliberately.

National Registrar Alexander Vega said 97% of the votes had been counted, and that the review was ongoing for the remaining 3%.

Emphasizing that there were mistakes while filling out the registration forms, Vega said he did not find the fraud allegations true.

He said he expected the jury to correct the errors and the results are corrected with the official count by the registrar.

The left coalition won over 2.6 million votes and 16 seats of the 102-member Senate. It is now expected to win three more seats after approval of the National Electoral Council.

Former guerrilla Gustavo also became the left’s presidential nominee, making him the front runner in the May election.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar