Colombia’s presidential election will move to a second round after no candidate surpassed the 50 percent threshold in the first round, according to preliminary results released by election authorities.

With around 96 percent of ballots counted, Abelardo de la Espriella received 43.62 percent of the vote, placing first, while Ivan Cepeda followed with 41.13 percent, according to figures announced by Colombia’s National Civil Registry.

Paloma Valencia secured 6.86 percent of the vote, followed by Sergio Fajardo with 4.20 percent and Raul Santiago Botero with 0.95 percent.

The results mean De la Espriella and Cepeda will face each other in a runoff election scheduled for June 21.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro rejected the preliminary vote count, claiming there had been irregularities in the electoral software system and alleging that hundreds of thousands of additional identity records had been inserted into the system.

Petro stated that he would only recognize results validated through judicial oversight and official verification procedures. Election authorities have not publicly confirmed the allegations.

De la Espriella criticized Petro’s statements, arguing that the electoral process should be closely monitored by international actors, including the United States.

Cepeda, meanwhile, called for concerns regarding the electoral process to be clarified and demanded investigations into allegations of vote-buying.

Third-place candidate Paloma Valencia later announced her support for De la Espriella ahead of the second round vote.

The runoff campaign is expected to focus heavily on political stability, security, and economic issues as Colombia prepares to elect its next president. (ILKHA)