Ivan Cepeda and Abelardo de la Espriella face off in a high-stakes election shaped by security concerns.
On Sunday, more than 40 million Colombians are eligible to vote in a runoff that will determine the country’s next president for the 2026-2030 term.
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Colombians Begin Heading to the Polls
Polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time at 13,742 voting centers across the country, while more than 1.4 million Colombian citizens are eligible to cast ballots from abroad.
The election pits leftist Sen. Ivan Cepeda (Historic Pact Party) against far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella (Homeland Defenders Movement), offering voters two sharply contrasting approaches to the country’s decadeslong armed conflict. In the first round held May 31, De la Espriella won 43.78% of the vote, while Cepeda received 40.98%.
The main events in this democratic contest are presented below as they occur.
Petro Delivers a Bright, Alive, Multicolored Democracy
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he will not remain in office even one second after Aug. 7, when the winner of the election will take power. Dressed in white from head to toe, he cast his ballot at the National Capitol in downtown Bogota, where he arrived accompanied by his daughters Sofia and Antonella, after attending the ceremonial opening of the election at Bolivar Square.
The president displayed his ballot marked for leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda, who is competing for the presidency against U.S.-backed candidate Abelardo de la Espriella.
At the end of his term, Petro again firmly rejected speculation promoted by conservatives over the past four years, a period during which they had baselessly claimed that the former guerrilla would not relinquish power and was establishing a “dictatorship.”
“What a strange dictator that one who hands over his mandate. What a strange dictator that one who has not a single political prisoner or prisoner of conscience,” the Colombian president said ironically.
“No one has been persecuted for their opinions, ways of thinking, religious, cultural, ethnic beliefs, or gender or sexual expression,” he said, stressing that history will show there was “a great deal of freedom and democracy” during his administration.
“We are handing over a bright, alive, multicolored democracy. Not a degree less and many, many more degrees of democracy compared with the country I received, which was bloodied at that time,” Petro said.
| PRESIDENTE GUSTAVO PETRO INSTALA LAS URNAS ELECTORALES
El mandatario de Colombia, Gustavo Petro, llegó a la Plaza de Bolívar acompañado por sus hijas Sofía y Antonella Petro para dar inicio oficial a la jornada electoral. El jefe de Estado asistió a la instalación de las… pic.twitter.com/SBt0h01wWI
— News On Demand (@OnDemand_News) June 21, 2026
The text reads, “Colombian President Gustavo Petro opened the ballot boxes. He arrived at Bolivar Square accompanied by his daughters, Sofia and Antonella Petro, to officially begin election day. The head of state attended the opening of the ballot boxes at approximately 7:20 a.m., accompanied by his chief of staff, Jose Raul Moreno, and the director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency, Nohra Mondragon.”
Trump Favorite Candidate Votes in Barranquilla
Lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, candidate of the Homeland Defenders movement, voted in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla. He arrived at his polling station at the La Enseñanza school wearing a Colombian national soccer team jersey and a Panama hat decorated with a tricolor ribbon. He was accompanied by his wife, Ana Lucia Pineda, and their four children.
The far-right politician, who was surrounded by a heavy security detail, asked his youngest daughter, Francesca, to cast his vote. After she did so, De la Espriella raised his hand to his temple in a military salute he has also used throughout the presidential campaign.
“Today the most important match for Colombia is being played. Today we decide the future of our homeland and the future of our children. With God’s help and the support of millions of Colombians, we are going to win this democratic battle,” De la Espriella posted on social media before voting.
#Colombia | President Gustavo Petro has revealed the discovery of an unauthorized financial fund based in Miami, Florida, designed to destabilize his administration’s public image.
Petro identified political figures, including Federico Gutierrez, alongside international… pic.twitter.com/09rSevFylN
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) June 17, 2026
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – teleSUR – El Universal – El Tiempo
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