2014 Colombian presidential election

2014 Colombian presidential election

← 2010 25 May 2014 (first round)
15 June 2014 (second round)
2018 →
Turnout40.10% (first round)
47.97% (second round)
 
Nominee Juan Manuel Santos Óscar Iván Zuluaga
Party Party of the U Democratic Center
Alliance National Unity
Running mate Germán Vargas Lleras Carlos Holmes Trujillo
Popular vote 7,839,342 6,917,001
Percentage 50.99% 44.99%


President before election

Juan Manuel Santos
Party of the U

Elected President

Juan Manuel Santos
Party of the U

Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 25 May 2014. Since no candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off between the two candidates with the most votes took place three weeks later on 15 June 2014. According to the official figures released by the National Registry office (Registraduría Nacional), as of 22 May 2014 (the cut-off date to register) 32,975,158 Colombians were registered and entitled to vote in the 2014 presidential election, including 545,976 Colombians resident abroad. Incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos was allowed to run for a second consecutive term. In the first round, Santos and Óscar Iván Zuluaga of the Democratic Center (Centro Democrático) were the two highest-polling candidates and were the contestants in the 15 June run-off. In the second round, Santos was re-elected president, gaining 51% of the vote compared with 45% for Zuluaga.

Candidates

By law the incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos had to declare before 25 November 2013 (six months before the election date) whether he would stand again for president. There had been speculation that he would not seek re-election: he had come under strong criticism during his first term for not continuing with the strong anti-terrorist measures of his predecessor Álvaro Uribe and for opening peace talks with the FARC guerrilla group, which drew fierce criticism from the still-popular Uribe and a large section of the public, resulting in low popularity ratings. Although his governing National Unity coalition still supported Santos in his re-election bid, there was speculation that other people would stand in his place, such as the Radical Change leader and experienced minister Germán Vargas Lleras, Vice President Angelino Garzón, and the retired head of the police force, General Oscar Naranjo. However, on 20 November Santos publicly declared his intention to stand for election again, citing a successful conclusion to the peace talks as one of the main factors for seeking a second term in office. His candidacy was supported unopposed by all three parties of the governing National Unity coalition: his own Social Party of National Unity, commonly known as "Party of the U"; the Colombian Liberal Party; and Radical Change. The following day Garzón said he would not seek reelection as Vice President in 2014. On 24 February 2014 Santos confirmed that Vargas Lleras would be his running mate for the 2014 election.

Unhappy with Santos' more conciliatory approach to the FARC, Álvaro Uribe had left the Party of the U to form the Democratic Center movement in January 2013 along with his former vicepresident Francisco Santos (cousin of president Juan Manuel Santos) and other close allies from the Party of the U. The Democratic Center's convention on 25–26 October 2013 chose economist and ex-minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga as its candidate for the presidential elections, ahead of Francisco Santos and Carlos Holmes Trujillo. On 28 February 2014 Trujillo was named as Zuluaga's vicepresidencial running mate.

The Colombian Conservative Party overwhelmingly chose Marta Lucía Ramírez to be its presidential candidate at its convention on 26 January 2014. Ramírez polled 1047 votes from the delegates, comfortably ahead of the other contenders Pablo Victoria with 138 votes and Álvaro Leyva with 84 votes. The convention was a fraught affair, with heated debate between some delegates arguing that the party should support the National Unity coalition and reelection of President Santos, and others who were in favour of the party fielding their own candidate. Ramírez was a defence minister in Álvaro Uribe's government, but left the Party of the U after Santos' election and rejoined the Conservative Party where she had begun her political career, becoming one of Santos' most vocal critics.

The main socialist opposition party, the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA), had been split by infighting in the four years since the previous election. Its 2010 election candidate Gustavo Petro had acrimoniously left the party along with his followers after accusing the PDA's Samuel Moreno, then Mayor of Bogota, of corruption, a charge of which Moreno was later found guilty, and removed from his position and jailed. Petro formed the Progressives Movement (Movimiento Progresistas) in 2011 and successfully ran for Mayor of Bogota himself. Another faction of the PDA left to form the Patriotic Course (Marcha Patriótica) movement. The PDA was, however, the first party to confirm its candidate for the 2014 election, choosing its president and former caretaker Mayor of Bogotá Clara López Obregón at its third national congress on 9 November 2012.

The Green Party had also suffered serious divisions since its surprise second place in the 2010 election. The defeated 2010 presidential candidate Antanas Mockus had resigned from the Green Party in June 2011, opposed to the decision to accept Álvaro Uribe's support for the party's Bogotá mayoral candidate Enrique Peñalosa. On 25 September 2013, after a year of negotiations, the Fourth National Congress of the Green Party confirmed a union with the Progressives Movement of Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro, with the new name Green Alliance. This new political alliance decided that its candidate for the 2014 elections would be chosen by a national vote on 9 March 2014, the same day as the parliamentary elections. On 21 November 2013 the Green Alliance confirmed that there were six pre-candidates for the position: former Bogotá mayor Enrique Peñalosa, senators John Sudarsky and Camilo Romero, ex-presidential candidate and former FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt, the Progressives Movement spokesman Antonio Navarro, and indigenous leader Feliciano Valencia. Betancourt, Navarro and Valencia failed to reach the party's "10% recognition amongst Colombians" requirement to stand as a candidate, leaving Peñalosa, Sudarsky and Romero as the three remaining potential candidates. In the election on 9 March 2014 Enrique Peñalosa was elected as the Green Alliance's presidential candidate with 48% of the vote, comfortably ahead of Romero (17%) and Sudarsky (8%). On 18 March 2014 Peñalosa announced that his running mate would be Isabel Segovía, a former deputy minister of education in the Uribe government.

The far-left Patriotic Union party chose its former president Aída Avella to be its presidential candidate at its fifth national congress on 16 November 2013. Avella had just returned from 17 years in exile in Switzerland after fleeing Colombia in 1996 following an attempt on her life. However, the poor showing of the Patriotic Union in the parliamentary elections (where they failed to win a seat in either house of Congress) led to Avella abandoning her presidential campaign and instead agreeing to unite the Patriotic Front with the Alternative Democratic Pole as a single left-wing opposition alliance, with Avella becoming López's running mate for the presidential election.

Summary of candidates

The following candidates appeared on the ballot for the first round in the following order:

Party Presidential nominee Vice-Presidential nominee Coalition

Alternative Democratic Pole
Clara López Obregón Aída Avella
PDA–UP

Colombian Conservative Party
Marta Lucía Ramírez Camilo Gómez

Social Party of National Unity
Juan Manuel Santos Germán Vargas Lleras
National Unity

Green Party
Enrique Peñalosa Isabel Segovia Green Alliance

Democratic Center
Óscar Iván Zuluaga Carlos Holmes Trujillo

Opinion polls

First round

The following table shows the results of opinion polls conducted from November 2013, when most of the presidential candidates had been confirmed, up to 15 May 2014. The table does not include the votes in the earliest polls for potential candidates who subsequently did not stand for election. The two highest scoring candidates in each poll (who would hypothetically go through to the second round of voting) are highlighted, except for the Centro Nacional de Consultoría poll of 17 January–7 February 2014, where Santos' score of 51% would have been enough to win in the first round.

A notable feature of the early polls was the high percentage of people intending to cast a blank vote (voto en blanco), usually between 20% and 30%. This reflected the widespread dissatisfaction among the Colombian public with all the candidates and the political system in general. After the parliamentary elections and the election of Peñalosa as candidate for the Green Alliance, both of which occurred on 9 March 2014, the polls showed a sharp drop in the percentage of people intending to cast a blank vote.

Date(s) conducted Polling organisation/client Sample size Candidate Blank vote Don't know/No response Margin of error
J.M. Santos O.I. Zuluaga E. Peñalosa C. López M.L. Ramírez A. Avella
1–6 November 2013 Invamer–Gallup Colombia/Caracol Televisión, Blu Radio & major newspapers 713 28.0% 14.6% 8.7% 9.3% 5.7% 31.9% 1.9% 3.7%
21–25 November 2013 Datexco/El Tiempo & W Radio 1200 36.1% 11.9% 6.2% 6.3% 1.5% 0.9% 20.3% 11.0% 2.83%
22 November 2013 Centro Nacional de Consultoría/CM& 970 41% 13% 10% 5% 4% 10% 17% 3.0%
22–23 November 2013 Ipsos–Napoleón Franco/RCN, La FM & Revista Semana 1225 26% 12% 4% 6% 2% 1% 21% 25% 2.8%
22–27 November 2013 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias 2500 26% 13% 5% 8% 1% 35% 2.9%
2–9 December 2013 Invamer–Gallup Colombia/Caracol Televisión, Blu Radio & major newspapers 756 36.0% 14.2% 5.1% 6.2% 5.8% 0.9% 26.4% 3.7% 3.6%
3–6 December 2013 Datexco/El Tiempo & W Radio 1000 28% 10% 9% 8% 3% 1% unknown unknown 3.1%
16–20 January 2014 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias 2500 26% 8% 9% 7% 1% 30% 19% 2.9%
17 January–7 February 2014 Centro Nacional de Consultoría/CM& 2378 51% 9% 12% 7% 8% 3% 10% unknown 2%
28–29 January 2014 Ipsos–Napoleón Franco/RCN, La FM & Revista Semana 1008 25% 8% 6% 6% 4% 1% 27% 23% 3.1%
29–31 January 2014 Datexco/El Tiempo & W Radio 1200 24.4% 7.6% 7.1% 6.0% 7.7% 0.7% 30.5% 14.1% 2.83%
5–9 February 2014 Invamer–Gallup Colombia/Caracol Televisión, Blu Radio & major newspapers 678 34.7% 10.8% 8.6% 4.5% 8.5% 1.6% 28.1% 3.2% 3.8%
10–15 February 2014 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias[permanent dead link] 2500 26% 7% 6% 5% 4% 1% 30% 20% 2.9%
20–24 February 2014 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias Archived 2 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine 2500 31% 8% 9% 7% 4% 1% 27% 12% 2.9%
21–24 February 2014 Ipsos–Napoleón Franco/RCN, La FM & Revista Semana 1201 28% 8% 5% 4% 3% 2% 24% 2.8%
25–28 February 2014 Datexco/El Tiempo y W Radio 1200 24.2% 6.3% 6.3% 4.9% 4.1% 3.6% 41.5% 8.6% 2.83%
13–14 March 2014 Datexco/El Tiempo y W Radio 1000 25.5% 14.6% 17.1% 10.7% 7.7% n/a 16.9% 7.5% 3.1%
15–17 March 2014 Centro Nacional de Consultoría/CM& 1113 30% 10% 16% 10% 9% n/a 8% 17% 3.0%
13–17 March 2014 Invamer–Gallup Colombia/Caracol Televisión, Blu Radio & major newspapers 1200 32.5% 15.6% 11.3% 8.6% 9.3% n/a 19.6% 2.7% 3.0%
14–16 March 2014 Ipsos–Napoleón Franco/RCN, La FM & Revista Semana 1233 24% 9% 8% 9% 4% n/a 19% 27% 2.8%
19–22 March 2014 Centro Nacional de Consultoría/CM& 1500 27% 13% 18% 10% 7% n/a 8% 17% 2.5%
21–25 March 2014 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias 2500 23% 11% 13% 9% 5% n/a 26% 13% 2.9%
21–23 April 2014 Ipsos–Napoleón Franco/RCN, La FM & Revista Semana 1208 23% 15% 11% 6% 6% n/a 14% 22% 2.8%
21–24 April 2014 Datexco/El Tiempo y W Radio 1974 28.3% 16.0% 15.7% 9.6% 7.2% n/a 17.3% 5.8% 2.8%
23–27 April 2014 Invamer–Gallup Colombia/Caracol Televisión, Blu Radio & major newspapers 1200 32.0% 20.5% 10.1% 7.1% 11.2% n/a 15.9% 3.2% 3.0%
26–28 April 2014 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias 2500 27% 19% 10% 10% 8% n/a 17% 8% 2.9%
6–10 May 2014 Centro Nacional de Consultoría/CM& 1500 22% 24% 13% 9% 9% n/a 9% 14% 2.5%
9–12 May 2014 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias 2762 27.7% 23.9% 9.7% 10.0% 8.7% n/a 11.5% 8.5% 2.9%
10–13 May 2014 Datexco/El Tiempo y W Radio 2392 27.7% 25.6% 9.7% 9.7% 9.4% n/a 15.0% 2.9% 2.8%
10–13 May 2014 Invamer–Gallup Colombia/Caracol Televisión, Blu Radio & major newspapers 1184 29% 29.3% 10.6% 10.9% 14.4% n/a 5.8% unknown 3.0%
13–15 May 2014 Ipsos–Napoleón Franco/RCN, La FM & Revista Semana 1799 28.5% 29.5% 9.4% 10.1% 9.7% n/a 12.8% unknown 3.4%

Second round

Date(s) conducted Polling organisation/client Sample size Candidate Blank vote Don't know/No response Margin of error
Juan Manuel Santos Óscar Iván Zuluaga
26–27 May 2014 Centro Nacional de Consultoría/CM& 1996 45% 47% 8% n/a 2.2%
26–27 May 2014 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias 1672 38% 37% 15% 10% 2.9%
May 31–June 3, 2014 Invamer–Gallup Colombia/Caracol Televisión, Blu Radio & major newspapers 1200 47.7% 48.5% 3.7% n/a 3.0%
31 May–3 June 2014 Cifras y Conceptos/Caracol Radio & Red Más Noticias 3215 43.4% 38.5% 11.7% 6.3% 2.9%
31 May–4 June 2014 Datexco/El Tiempo & W Radio 1200 41.9% 37.7% 13.8% 5.8% 2.83%
June 2–4, 2014 Ipsos–Napoleón Franco/RCN, La FM & Revista Semana 1784 41% 49% 10% n/a 2.3%

Results

Candidate with the most votes in the first round by municipality:
 Zuluaga
 Santos
 Ramírez
 Obregón
Candidate with the most votes in the second round by municipality:
 Santos
 Zuluaga
CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Juan Manuel SantosSocial Party of National Unity3,310,79425.727,839,34250.99
Óscar Iván ZuluagaDemocratic Center3,769,00529.286,917,00144.99
Marta Lucía RamírezColombian Conservative Party1,997,98015.52
Clara López ObregónAlternative Democratic Pole1,958,51815.22
Enrique PeñalosaGreen Party1,064,7588.27
Blank votes770,5435.99618,7594.02
Total12,871,598100.0015,375,102100.00
Valid votes12,871,59897.3515,375,10297.20
Invalid votes350,7562.65443,1122.80
Total votes13,222,354100.0015,818,214100.00
Registered voters/turnout32,975,15840.1032,975,15847.97
Source: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil, Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil

By department

First round

Department Zuluaga Santos Ramírez Obregón Peñalosa Blank votes
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Amazonas 4,460 32.24% 4,841 35.00% 1,443 10.43% 1,811 13.09% 826 5.97% 450 3.25%
Antioquia 665,160 39.65% 286,742 16.23% 334,312 18.92% 248,628 14.07% 98,144 5.55% 133,404 7.55%
Arauca 25,425 44.67% 14,741 25.90% 1,407 8.62% 6,651 11.68% 2,441 4.28% 2,742 4.81%
Atlántico 77,446 19.06% 195,529 48.13% 33,181 8.16% 56,869 14.00% 24,319 5.98% 18,861 4.64%
Bogotá 524,459 22.10% 444,007 18.09% 366,394 14.93% 500,603 20.40% 392,460 15.99% 207,525 8.45%
Bolívar 122,506 32.68% 144,166 38.45% 25,411 6.77% 47,664 12.71% 19,802 5.28% 15,313 4.08%
Boyacá 121,291 30.09% 64,463 15.99% 83,319 20.67% 84,835 21.04% 31,904 7.91% 17,240 4.27%
Caldas 141,059 40.52% 62,785 18.03% 54,295 15.59% 44,861 12.88% 24,755 7.11% 20,310 5.83%
Caquetá 47,063 51.69% 15,216 16.71% 8,143 8.94% 10,896 11.96% 5,080 5.58% 4,641 5.09%
Casanare 70,058 57.67% 10,831 8.91% 12,432 10.23% 12,313 10.13% 10,299 8.47% 5,527 4.55%
Cauca 54,375 16.30% 150,434 45.12% 42,497 12.74% 49,328 14.79% 19,341 5.80% 17,412 5.22%
Cesar 71,291 29.60% 103,020 42.77% 18,852 7.82% 28,858 11.98% 10,226 4.24% 8,587 3.56%
Chocó 16,686 20.50% 42,747 52.53% 8,683 10.67% 5,784 7.10% 3,383 4.15% 4,091 5.02%
Consulates/Abroad 41,370 41.24% 25,121 25.04% 5,350 5.33% 10,010 9.97% 14,015 13.97% 4,444 4.43%
Córdoba 114,960 28.11% 205,061 50.15% 35,407 8.66% 27,751 6.78% 11,448 2.80% 14,224 3.47%
Cundinamarca 255,598 31.62% 144,346 17.86% 186,690 23.10% 116,562 14.42% 56,156 6.94% 48,757 6.03%
Guainía 1,911 30.19% 2,828 44.69% 635 10.03% 475 7.50% 306 4.83% 173 2.73%
Guaviare 6,631 37.11% 6,689 37.44% 1,889 10.57% 963 5.39% 771 4.31% 921 5.15%
Huila 140,904 46.46% 34,471 11.36% 44,028 14.51% 52,848 17.42% 19,514 6.43% 11,495 3.79%
La Guajira 28,509 23.97% 57,275 48.16% 9,821 8.25% 13,081 11.00% 6,393 5.37% 3,825 3.21%
Magdalena 69,965 26.15% 135,830 50.76% 19,042 7.11% 25,767 9.63% 8,852 3.30% 8,088 3.02%
Meta 126,996 43.17% 48,102 16.35% 50,807 17.27% 37,864 12.87% 17,340 5.89% 13,019 4.42%
Nariño 74,942 19.25% 166,906 42.88% 43,009 11.05% 66,815 17.16% 21,898 5.62% 15,593 4.00%
Norte de Santander 118,134 31.04% 105,470 27.71% 75,550 19.85% 36,771 9.66% 25,227 6.62% 19,395 5.09%
Putumayo 10,870 16.98% 24,846 38.79% 12,002 18.74% 10,537 16.46% 3,166 4.94% 2,601 4.06%
Quindío 56,497 29.04% 46,539 23.92% 31,548 16.21% 24,953 12.82% 21,549 11.07% 13,427 6.90%
Risaralda 98,280 30.10% 63,636 19.49% 70,539 21.60% 42,928 13.15% 30,438 9.33% 20,580 6.30%
San Andrés and Providencia 2,620 30.58% 3,264 38.10% 579 6.75% 701 8.18% 804 9.38% 598 6.98%
Santander 186,420 27.69% 176,416 26.20% 121,389 18.03% 107,158 15.91% 44,251 6.57% 37,567 5.58%
Sucre 82,374 34.10% 113,088 46.81% 11,526 4.77% 20,588 8.52% 5,771 2.38% 8,209 3.39%
Tolima 169,798 40.86% 88,177 21.22% 58,769 14.14% 49.122 11.82% 27,625 6.64% 22,041 5.30%
Valle del Cauca 216,620 18.92% 315,698 27.57% 224,405 19.60% 213,557 18.65% 105,509 9.21% 69,040 6.03%
Vaupés 833 15.93% 3,267 62.50% 311 5.94% 390 7.46% 312 5.96% 114 2.18%
Vichada 5,494 46.42% 4,232 35.76% 815 6.88% 576 4.86% 388 3.27% 329 2.78%
Source: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil

Second round

Department Santos Zuluaga Blank votes
Votes % Votes % Votes %
Amazonas 6,967 43.83% 8,500 53.48% 426 2.68%
Antioquia 704,585 35.79% 1,139,007 57.86% 124,919 6.34%
Arauca 37,305 49.06% 36,434 47.92% 2,290 3.01%
Atlántico 542,942 78.22% 139,389 20.08% 11,727 1.68%
Bogotá 1,341,963 52.54% 1,076,816 42.16% 135,053 5.28%
Bolívar 310,048 58.00% 212,655 39.78% 11,789 2.20%
Boyacá 187,369 39.82% 264,670 56.25% 18,454 3.92%
Caldas 131,239 33.62% 239,148 61.28% 19,860 5.08%
Caquetá 34,619 32.44% 67,769 63.51% 4,317 4.04%
Casanare 25,162 18.38% 106,440 77.75% 5,287 3.86%
Cauca 312,472 72.21% 108,013 24.96% 12,221 2.82%
Cesar 201,362 60.68% 123,546 37.23% 6,926 2.08%
Chocó 61,852 63.54% 32,889 33.79% 2,588 2.65%
Consulates/Abroad 43,870 39.66% 63,887 57.75% 2,851 2.57%
Córdoba 376,652 63.65% 206,393 34.88% 8,637 1.45%
Cundinamarca 370,791 41.38% 486,063 54.25% 39,076 4.36%
Guainía 4,274 54.71% 3,336 42.70% 201 2.57%
Guaviare 10,055 46.35% 10,832 49.94% 802 3.69%
Huila 95,987 25.88% 262,807 70.88% 11,976 3.23%
La Guajira 120,033 71.15% 45,848 27.17% 2,806 1.66%
Magdalena 259,428 67.75% 117,246 30.62% 6,198 1.61%
Meta 105,748 32.67% 206,061 63.67% 11,794 3.64%
Nariño 345,485 66.08% 163,932 31.35% 13,396 2.56%
Norte de Santander 239,539 50.35% 219,934 46.23% 16,195 3.40%
Putumayo 58,561 66.87% 26,193 29.91% 2,813 3.21%
Quindío 99,822 44.81% 111,470 50.04% 11,433 5.13%
Risaralda 149,814 41.07% 193,169 52.96% 21,730 5.95%
San Andrés and Providencia 5,773 53.16% 4,714 43.41% 372 3.42%
Santander 429,356 53.15% 348,328 43.12% 30,026 3.71%
Sucre 199,424 60.08% 127,028 38.27% 5,428 1.63%
Tolima 184,496 36.98% 296,610 59.45% 17,780 3.56%
Valle del Cauca 831,748 61.61% 459,146 34.01% 58,960 4.36%
Vaupés 4,149 70.42% 1,649 27.99% 93 1.57%
Vichada 6,452 46.53% 7,079 51.05% 335 2.41%
Source: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil

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