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Petro seeks annulment
Colombian President Gustavo Petro filed a lawsuit with the Council of State to request the annulment of the 2026 presidential election of far-right candidate Abelardo De la Espriella, according to Orinoco Tribune.
“El presidente saliente reclama un nuevo escrutinio y una auditoría de los formularios E-14 tras la ajustada victoria de Abelardo de la Espriella”
Petro said in a message posted on his social media account, “Here is the demand for the annulment of the 2026 presidential election.”
The legal challenge asks for a recount of votes cast abroad in the runoff election held on June 21, where De la Espriella defeated Iván Cepeda by 251,854 votes, and it also seeks to nullify the resolution and credentials issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE), with inauguration scheduled for August 7.
TeleSUR reported that the lawsuit requests a new count of ballots cast abroad during the June 21 runoff given De la Espriella’s margin of 251,854 votes over Iván Cepeda, and it seeks to void the resolution and credentials issued by the CNE that declared De la Espriella the winner.
Petro said the case is presented by “digital witnesses” numbering 70,000 citizens who, he claims, detected alleged manipulation through traces left in metadata of documents uploaded to the internet by the electoral vote-counting software, as described by Orinoco Tribune and TeleSUR.
Competing claims and protests
In his Independence Day address to Congress, Petro used the transfer of power to President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella to question the legitimacy of the June 21 election and accused the United States of imposing the next leader, while urging supporters to prepare mass protests if the incoming government reverses his reforms, according to The City Paper Bogotá.
Petro told lawmakers, “The mere introduction of foreign support into the recent election is grounds for nullifying it and, above all, renders the next government illegitimate,” and he also said Colombia would surrender its sovereignty from Aug. 7 onward.
The City Paper Bogotá also reported that Colombia’s electoral authorities have certified De la Espriella’s victory and rejected allegations of electoral fraud, while RTVE.es said Petro insisted the alleged fraud was carried out by the National Registry and warned that brothers Felipe, Camilo and Fernando Bautista, owners of Thomas Greg & Sons, “should go to jail.”
RTVE.es quoted Petro saying, “This night the lawsuit that has already been delivered to the Colombian judiciary (...) with all the evidence and indications that 70,000 digital witnesses,” and it described Petro’s call for an indefinite general strike if the newly elected government repeals his reforms.
Cubadebate similarly described Petro’s final public speech in Ciudad Bolívar, south of Bogotá, where he said, “Civil disobedience if they are going to roll back the conditions won for workers,” and he called for “a general and indefinite strike” if the incoming administration erases agrarian reform for the peasantry.
What the petition asks
While Petro’s narrative centers on alleged “algorithmic manipulation,” multiple sources describe the petition as seeking nullification without asserting proven vote fraud, with El País reporting that the 61-page document admits directly that it does not prove “fraude electoral ni alteración fraudulenta de resultados.”
“Outgoing President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, on Tuesday filed a petition attempting to annul the presidential elections held in the country, alleging an alleged 'algorithmic manipulation' of the vote in the elections where the far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella was declared the winner, ahead of the official candidate Iván Cepeda”
El País said the action was filed on July 17 by six citizens headed by the lawyer and chemical engineer William Roy Villanueva, and it described the petition as requesting annulment of the Plenary Chamber Resolution No. E-3181 of June 24, 2026, by which the CNE declared Abelardo de la Espriella and José Manuel Restrepo the winners.
El Colombiano reported that the petition argues the National Registry downgraded controls for identification, integrity, and digital traceability of the E-14 forms compared to standards used in 2022, and it said the petition stresses “evidentiary opacity” that prevents citizens and the electoral judge from discarding hypotheses of manipulation.
El Colombiano also said the petition requests that the National Registry and the CNE provide logs (activity records), hash digests, publication traces, and technical documents supporting the integrity of the published files, and it adds requests for a new tally, a judicial audit, or a technical verification of polling stations affected by unverifiability or documentary inconsistencies.
América Económica described the petition’s requested measures as including annulment of the resolution declaring De la Espriella and José Manuel Restrepo elected, issuance of presidential and vice-presidential credentials, and an order for a new count, judicial audit, or technical verification, while also stating that the authorities have certified the result and that the impugnation remains in the hands of Colombian justice.
