Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Monday the filing of a lawsuit before the Council of State seeking to annul the presidential election of far-right Abelardo De La Espriella, citing algorithmic manipulation of the popular vote uncovered through metadata analysis by digital witnesses.

The legal challenge specifically requests a new count of ballots cast abroad during the June 21 runoff, given De la Espriella’s margin of 251,854 votes over ruling coalition candidate Iván Cepeda. It also seeks to void the resolution and credentials issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE) that declared the far-right businessman the winner, whose inauguration is scheduled for August 7.

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According to Petro, the lawsuit is presented by “digital witnesses” – numbering 70,000 citizens – who managed to detect the alleged manipulation through traces left in the metadata of documents uploaded to the internet by the electoral vote-counting software.

The outgoing head of state had already advanced earlier in the afternoon that he would publish the legal challenge during Monday night, which he stated includes what he described as evidence of electoral fraud in the recent elections.

Aquí se encuentra la demanda de nulidad de la elección presidencial del 2026.

Su lenguaje técnico será explicado en videos que traduzcan hacia la comunicación popular.

Es presentada por los "testigos digitales*, que en número de 70.000 ciudadanos y ciudadanas, lograron…

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 21, 2026

Petro has repeatedly denounced what he considers a “soft coup” against him. The NEC previously investigated his 2022 campaign over alleged spending-limit violations, a process the president characterized as an attempt to strip him of power.

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