Colombian presidential race headed for runoff
Colombian presidential candidate and former defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón during an April 8 session at the World Economic Forum on Latin America 2010 in Cartagena.
With just a week to go before Colombians vote on May 30, two recent polls show neither of the leading presidential candidates likely to receive more than 50 percent of the vote, the number needed to avoid a second-round vote on June 20.
Reuters reports that the Centro Nacional de Consultoria (CNC) predicted the candidate of current President Alvaro Uribe’s Partido de la U and former defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos would receive 39 percent of the vote compared to 34 percent for Green Party candidate, and former Bogotá mayor, Antanas Mockus. The same poll showed a statistical tie in the June 20 runoff, with Santos winning 47 percent of the vote and Mockus 46 percent, in a poll with a margin of error of 1.8 percent.
A poll by Ipsos-Napoleon Franco shows Santos up 34 percent to 32 percent against Mockus in the first-round vote, with Mockus favored to win the second-round vote 45 percent to 40 percent, Bloomberg reports. That poll had a margin of error of 2.8 percent.
Finally, a Datexco poll shows Santos winning the first round 35 percent to 34 percent and Mockus winning the second round 45 percent to 44 percent. That poll had a margin of error of 2.89 percent.
According to Colombian law no further polls can be published until after the May 30 election.
