Reinforcement of the delegation of election experts for the elections in Colombia

12.6.2018

Question for written answer P-003154-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL) , Tania González Peñas (GUE/NGL) , Kostadinka Kuneva (GUE/NGL)

On 17 June, Colombians will go to the polls to elect a president for the first time since the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the FARC, an agreement which was politically and financially supported by the EU.

The Colombian Council of State officially detected serious irregularities that led to fraudulent practices in the 2014 parliamentary elections. Civil Society Organisations have also revealed evidence of fraud in the first round of the 2018 presidential elections. The mission consisting of two election experts sent by the Union does not have the capacity to issue warnings or recommendations if they discover any fraudulent practices or to perform a review of the private computer software to be used for the counting of votes.

Has the Commission taken any steps to reinforce the mission of election experts, notably through the addition of IT and systems experts, in order to reduce the risk of fraud?

Can it authorise this mission to inform the parliamentary delegation observing the elections in situ so that it may take any necessary and appropriate action, including a recount of the votes?

What steps has the Commission taken to ensure that the risks of fraud are minimised?