Polls open in Colombia

Voting opened Sunday in Colombia’s presidential election. Nine candidates are in the running in the first round of voting. Opinion polls show a second, knockout, round of voting is almost certain.

Reuters

Former Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos and ex-Bogota mayor Atanas Mockus are favourites to replace President Alvaro Uribe, who will step down in August having completed the maximum two four-year terms. They each have 35 per cent in opinion polls.

Opinion polls suggest an election knock-out round is unavoidable given how close the top two contenders are, each holding roughly 35 per cent of the vote.

The Organization of American States has sent 85 observers. It has warned Colombia’s fragile voting system could cause problems. Votes are counted manually and some results are sent by telephone.