Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo De La Espriella of the political movement Defenders of the Homeland addresses supporters after the results of the first round of the presidential election in Barranquilla, Colombia, May 31. Reuters-Yonhap
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Tough-on-crime outsider Aberaldo de la Espriella took the lead in Colombia's presidential race in the first round of voting Sunday night, setting up a runoff with Iván Cepeda, an ally of Colombia’s outgoing President Gustavo Petro who questioned the results of the election.
With no candidate taking an outright majority of the vote, the election will head to a second round in June.
But Cepeda and Petro sowed doubt in the results of the first round, claiming without evidence that hundreds of thousands of votes were manipulated and that foreign actors manipulated the results of the election.
Cepeda said he was waiting for electoral authorities to scrutinize the results before accepting the election.
