By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA, March 8 (Reuters) – Colombians voted on Sunday to elect a new Congress and choose three of the presidential candidates who will run in elections this May, a vote that will shape the next president’s ability to push through legislation and fulfill their agenda.
Voters chose from over 3,000 candidates to fill 102 Senate seats and 182 House seats, in a peaceful election analysts have predicted will be divided among some two dozen parties, likely forcing the next president to form a coalition government.
While polls closed at 4 p.m. local time (2100 GMT), results for the Senate and House were too early to call at around 7:30 p.m.
Alongside the legislative elections, right-wing, leftist and centrist groups held primaries to choose candidates for the May presidential election.
With over 86% of the primary vote reported, it was clear that the right-wing primary was won by Democratic Center Senator Paloma Valencia, while former Senator Roy Barreras, an ally of Petro, prevailed for the leftist group. Former Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez won the centrist primary.
The three winners will take part in the May presidential election and will face Abelardo De La Espriella, Ivan Cepeda and Sergio Fajardo — other representatives of the right, left and center, respectively — who did not take part in the primaries and chose to run directly in the first round.
“It is very important to come and exercise the right to vote. The most important thing is for Colombia to decide its future and for the results to be respected,” said Federico Rodriguez, a 32-year-old business administrator, after voting in Bogota’s north.
“It is a source of pride that we can go out and exercise our right to vote and to democracy, but I also have uncertainty about the results, about knowing what Colombia’s future will be in the next four years,” said university student Isabella Suarez, 21.
President Gustavo Petro, whose term ends in August, has repeatedly questioned the software being used for the vote count in the elections, alleging possible irregularities, while National Registrar Hernan Penagos has guaranteed the transparency of the vote and said party observers can verify the software’s results.
Sunday’s vote was carried out peacefully, despite fears that illegal armed groups might seek to disrupt the election or pressure voters to cast their ballots for certain candidates.
Some 246,000 members of the military forces and the national police had been placed on high alert ahead of the election, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said earlier in the week.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Aurora Ellis)
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