Colombia's Petro seeks to overturn presidential election

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has filed a legal challenge seeking to annul the June 21 presidential election, alleging irregularities in the vote won by President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella.

In a post Tuesday on X, Petro shared the petition challenging the election and said it had been submitted by about 70,000 people identifying themselves as "digital witnesses."

"Here is the petition requesting the annulment of the 2026 presidential election," Petro wrote. "The legal and technical language in the document will be explained through videos prepared to make it easier for the public to understand. The petition was submitted by a group of around 70,000 people who describe themselves as 'digital witnesses.' The petition claims that traces found in the metadata of documents uploaded to the internet by the vote-counting software revealed algorithmic manipulation of Colombian voters' ballots."

Petro criticized Espriella in the post without mentioning him by name.

Espriella was officially declared president-elect by the National Electoral Council and is scheduled to take office Aug. 7, succeeding Petro.

The 47-year-old lawyer and millionaire businessman is widely known for his close ties to President Donald Trump.

In the June 21 presidential runoff, Espriella, the candidate of the Defenders of the Homeland Movement, won 49.66% of the vote, while Ivan Cepeda, the candidate of the ruling left-wing Historic Pact coalition, received 48.70%.

After Espriella's narrow victory, Petro called for an investigation into the election results.

Espriella has also pledged to strengthen Colombia's relations with Israel "more than ever before."