politics
Colombians Vote Sunday in Presidential Election Expected to Reach June Runoff
Voters will choose among 14 candidates on May 31. No candidate is projected to reach the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright, making a June 21 runoff between the top two finishers nearly certain.
May 30, 1:34 PM·1m read1 source
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Millions of Colombians will cast ballots on Sunday in a presidential election that polls indicate will advance to a second round on June 21. Fourteen candidates appear on the ballot, but three lead the field according to an AtlasIntel survey of 4,531 respondents released last week.
Senator Iván Cepeda of the ruling Pacto Histórico party holds 38.7 percent, lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella 37.3 percent, and Senator Paloma Valencia 14.3 percent.
Human rights groups recorded more than 50 massacres in Colombia this year, and clashes between armed factions this week killed about 50 people. Polls rank security as voters' second-highest concern after health care. De la Espriella has proposed bombing trafficker camps, halting negotiations with armed groups, resuming aerial coca eradication with glyphosate, and constructing ten maximum-security prisons.
Cepeda supports continued talks with guerrillas and cartels. Valencia advocates more ground troops, drone surveillance, and renewed fumigation.
The outcome will affect cooperation on counternarcotics. United Nations data show Colombia produced record cocaine volumes in 2025. Jose Antonio Ocampo, Colombia's former finance minister, said the Trump administration has sought support from right-leaning governments in the region. Colombia remains the top U.S. partner in counternarcotics and a major trade partner in the Western Hemisphere.
