Segunda vuelta — 21 de junio de 2026
Segunda vuelta — Resultado final · 21 de junio de 2026
Resultado oficial (escrutinio) — declarado por el Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) el 24 de junio de 2026. Participación: 63,60 %.
Fuente: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil. El mapa interactivo por departamento y los resultados de primera vuelta se cargan a continuación.
About this election
Colombia is electing its president in two rounds. In the first round on 31 May 2026, the independent right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella finished first with 43.75%, narrowly ahead of the left-wing senator Iván Cepeda of the Historic Pact (Pacto Histórico) on 40.90%. As no candidate passed 50%, the two advanced to a run-off scheduled for 21 June 2026. Other candidates — including Paloma Valencia of the Democratic Centre (6.92%) and the centrist Sergio Fajardo (4.26%) — trailed far behind. Turnout in the first round was 57.89%. The election chose a successor to President Gustavo Petro, who is constitutionally barred from seeking consecutive re-election. In the run-off on 21 June 2026, Abelardo de la Espriella defeated Iván Cepeda by a narrow margin — 49.66% to 48.70%, or 12,960,166 votes to 12,708,312, a gap of 251,854 votes on a turnout of 63.60%. The result is official: the National Electoral Council (CNE) certified the count and declared de la Espriella president-elect on 24 June 2026. With nearly 13 million votes he became the most-voted presidential candidate in Colombian history — though Cepeda, in defeat, also exceeded every previous winning total. The full national result and the department-by-department breakdown are shown above.
The vote is the first presidential contest since Gustavo Petro won in 2022 as Colombia's first left-wing president. His government pursued ambitious health, pension and labour reforms but was hampered by a fragmented Congress, ministerial turnover and scandals; his approval, low for much of the term, had recovered to around half by early 2026. The 2026 campaign unfolded against deep polarisation between Petro's left and a resurgent right, and against persistent insecurity in parts of the country where armed groups remain active despite the 2016 peace accord.
Colombia elects its president by a two-round absolute-majority system: if no candidate wins more than half of the valid votes in the first round, the top two contest a run-off about three weeks later. The president serves a single four-year term and may not be re-elected consecutively, though a former president may run again after a gap. The vice-president runs on the same ticket. The National Civil Registry (Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil) administers the vote and publishes a fast pre-count (preconteo) on election night, with certified results following after any challenges are resolved.
Abelardo de la Espriella, a high-profile lawyer running as an independent, campaigned on a hardline law-and-order, anti-Petro platform and emerged as the standard-bearer of the right. Iván Cepeda, a veteran leftist senator long associated with human-rights advocacy and the peace process, carried the banner of Petro's Historic Pact after winning its nomination. The run-off thus pits two sharply opposed visions of the country against each other.
The first-round result was a surprise: a self-styled outsider of the hard right topped a crowded field, finishing ahead of the governing left's candidate rather than behind it. The traditional right and centre — represented by figures such as Paloma Valencia and Sergio Fajardo — were left well back, confirming that the contest had consolidated into a stark left-versus-right duel and that the old centrist establishment had been squeezed out of contention.
The 21 June run-off offered Colombians a polarised choice over the direction set under Petro: the future of his social reforms, the approach to security and the armed groups, relations with the United States, and economic and energy policy. Turnout rose sharply, from 57.89% in the first round to 63.60%, and both candidates far exceeded their first-round totals as the eliminated candidates' voters realigned. De la Espriella's support was strongest in the interior departments and among Colombians abroad, while Cepeda dominated Bogotá and much of the country's periphery — the department map above shows a country split almost exactly in half.
Iván Cepeda conceded on 24 June 2026, hours after the CNE's declaration, and President Gustavo Petro — while voicing complaints about the campaign — recognised the result and began the formal handover. De la Espriella takes office on 7 August 2026 for a single four-year term, with José Manuel Restrepo as vice-president. He will govern with the fragmented Congress elected in March 2026, in which the right is strong but no bloc commands a majority; under Colombia's opposition statute, Cepeda is entitled to a Senate seat as the presidential runner-up.
Legislative elections were held separately, on 8 March 2026, and produced a fragmented Congress in which the Historic Pact was the largest force but well short of a majority. Whoever wins the presidency will therefore have to govern with a divided legislature, needing to build coalitions for any major reform — a structural constraint that shaped Petro's own term and will shape his successor's.
In the June 2022 run-off, Gustavo Petro defeated the independent populist Rodolfo Hernández, 50.44% to 47.31%, becoming Colombia's first left-wing president; his running mate, Francia Márquez, became the first Afro-Colombian vice-president. The 2026 race will determine whether that historic shift to the left is extended or reversed.
Security loomed over the campaign. Despite the 2016 peace accord with the FARC, Colombia still faces violence from the ELN guerrilla group, FARC dissident factions and powerful drug-trafficking organisations, particularly in rural and border regions. President Petro's "total peace" policy of pursuing parallel negotiations with multiple armed groups produced uneven results, and rising insecurity in some areas fed support for de la Espriella's hardline, law-and-order message. How to confront — or negotiate with — these groups is one of the sharpest dividing lines between the two run-off candidates.
National Civil Registry of Colombia (Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil) — resultados.registraduria.gov.co. The pre-count was published on election night; the National Electoral Council (CNE) certified the national result and declared the winner on 24 June 2026.
The second round (run-off) was held on Sunday, 21 June 2026. The National Civil Registry published a fast pre-count that evening, and the National Electoral Council (CNE) certified the official result and declared Abelardo de la Espriella president-elect on 24 June 2026.
The run-off was between Abelardo de la Espriella, an independent right-wing candidate, and Iván Cepeda, the left-wing senator of the Historic Pact (Pacto Histórico). They were the top two finishers in the first round on 31 May 2026; de la Espriella won the run-off 49.66% to 48.70%.
In the first round on 31 May 2026, Abelardo de la Espriella finished first with 43.75%, narrowly ahead of Iván Cepeda on 40.90%. Because no candidate passed 50% of the valid vote, the two advanced to the 21 June run-off.
Colombia elects its president by a two-round absolute-majority system. If no candidate wins more than half of the valid votes in the first round, the top two contest a run-off about three weeks later. No candidate reached 50% on 31 May, so a second round was triggered.
This page shows the final national result of the 21 June 2026 run-off and an interactive department-by-department map. The national figures are the official result certified by the CNE on 24 June 2026; the departmental breakdown comes from the pre-count (preconteo) published by Colombia's National Civil Registry.
No. Colombia's constitution bars presidents from consecutive re-election, so the incumbent Gustavo Petro is not a candidate. The 2026 election chooses his successor for a single four-year term.
Compiled and reviewed by Bartłomiej Paruzel, Election Data Analyst, from official results. See our data methodology.