Colombian presidential election, 2010

Colombian presidential election, 2010

2006 ← 30 May and 20 June 2010 → 2014

Nominee Juan Manuel Santos Antanas Mockus Party Party of the U Green Party Home state Bogotá Bogotá Running mate Angelino Garzón Sergio Fajardo Popular vote 9,028,943 3,587,975 Percentage 69.13 27.47

President before election Álvaro Uribe Colombia First Elected President Juan Manuel Santos Party of the U

Colombia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Colombia

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The Colombian presidential election of 2010 took place under a two-round system, with an initial vote held on May 30 and a second poll held three weeks later on June 20.^[1] A referendum proposal that would have allowed incumbent President Álvaro Uribe the opportunity to run for a third term was rejected by the Constitutional Court of Colombia in a 7–2 ruling on February 26, 2010.^[2] Because no candidate received a majority (more than one-half) of the votes cast in the May 30 poll, the candidates with the two highest vote totals, Juan Manuel Santos and Antanas Mockus, competed in a runoff election on June 20.

Candidates

Government group

In 2002, Álvaro Uribe of the Colombia First party was elected president with 53.1 per cent of the vote, breaking the two-party system that ruled the country since 1958, with the promise of ending the armed conflict that haunts the country since 1964 by strengthening the Armed Forces.^[3] In 2006, he managed to change the Constitution in order to run for a second consecutive term.^[3] After a practically mute campaign, Uribe won the election with 62.2 per cent of the vote, followed by Carlos Gaviria of the Alternative Democratic Pole with a distant 22 per cent.^[3]

In 2007, Luis Guillermo Giraldo, leader of the pro-Uribe Party of the U, announced he would create the "promoters' committee", a group charged with gathering signatures to call a referendum on whether Uribe should be allowed to run for a third term in office.^[3] In September 2009, Congress approved the referendum bill in a late-night voting boycotted by members of the opposition.^[3] On February 26, 2010, the Constitutional Court voted against the referendum bill.^[3] Immediately after the ruling, former defence minister Juan Manuel Santos confirmed that he would become a presidential candidate.^[3] Another Uribist candidate was Germán Vargas Lleras of the Radical Change party.^[3] Former Colombian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Noemí Sanín, and former agriculture minister Andrés Felipe Arias, two of the closest Uribe allies, were seeking nomination by the Conservative Party.^[3] Sanín was nominated.

Opposition group

Two of the opposition candidates were Rafael Pardo of the Liberal Party and Gustavo Petro of the Alternative Democratic Pole.^[3] Álvaro Leyva Durán, a Uribe opponent, was seeking the presidential nomination by the Conservative Party.^[3]

On October 2, 2009, the Green Party was officially created.^[3] It nominated its presidential candidate on a primary ballot that took place on March 14, 2010, the same day as the legislative election.^[3] The contenders were three former Bogotá mayors: Enrique Peñalosa, Antanas Mockus, and Luis Eduardo Garzón. The Greens seek to be a moderate force in what they called "a polarized" political situation, calling themselves "Post-Uribists."^[3] Mockus was chosen as their candidate. Former Medellín mayor Sergio Fajardo joined him as his running mate on 5 April 2010, after missing the requirements to become a presidential candidate himself.^[4]

Opinion polls

First Round

Date	Institute	Candidate										Undecided (Ns/Nr) V. None	Source
		Rafael Pardo	Gustavo Petro	Germán Vargas Lleras	Sergio Fajardo	Juan Manuel Santos	Antanas Mockus	Noemí Sanín	Róbinson Devia	Jaime Araújo	Jairo Calderón
March 24, 2010	Invamer Gallup	5.1%	6.3%	6.2%	6.1%	34.2%	10.4%	23.3%	0%	0%	0%	8.4%	[5]
March 26, 2010	Datexco	5.5%	7.1%	6.6%	4.4%	34.1%	8.9%	21.7%	0%	0.2%	0.1%	11.4%	[6]
March 27, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	4%	6%	8%	5%	36%	9%	17%	1%	0%	0%	14%	[7]
March 27, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	3.4%	3.6%	6.5%	3.6%	28.6%	11.3%	21.9%	0%	0%	0%	21.1%	[8]
April 8, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	5%	6%	3%	-	37%	22%	20%	0%	0%	0%	7%	[9]
April 9, 2010	Datexco	5.2%	3.1%	3%	-	29.5%	24.8%	16.4%	0%	0%	0%	17.2%	[10]
April 15, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	4%	4%	2%	-	36%	29%	19%	0%	1%	0%	5%	[11]
April 16, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	5%	4%	3%	-	30%	20%	12%	1%	5%	5%	15%	[12]
April 22, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	5%	5%	4%	-	35%	34%	12%	0%	1%	0%	3%	[13]
April 26, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	3%	5%	3%	-	29%	38%	11%	0%	1%	0%	10%	[14]
April 28, 2010	Invamer Gallup	5.7%	5.0%	3.6%	-	34.2%	31.6%	16.2%	0%	0.1%	0%	3.5%	[15]
April 29, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	3%	5%	4%	-	34%	39%	11%	0%	0%	0%	4%	[16]
April 30, 2010	Datexco	2.3%	2.9%	3.3%	-	26.7%	38.7%	9.8%	0%	0%	0%	16.3%	[17]
May 6, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	3%	5%	5%	-	34%	38%	11%	0%	0%	0%	4%	[18]
May 7, 2010	Datexco	1.4%	4.2%	3.1%	-	25.2%	37.7%	6.7%	0%	0%	0%	21.7%	[19]
May 9, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	4%	4%	3%	-	35%	34%	8%	0%	0%	0%	12%	[20]
May 13, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	3%	4%	4%	-	38%	36%	9%	0%	0%	0%	6%	[21]
May 14, 2010	Datexco	3.1%	7.5%	4.3%	-	29.3%	32.8%	5.6%	0%	0.4%	0%	13.8%	[22]
May 19, 2010	Invamer Gallup	3.8%	7.3%	3.8%	-	37.5%	35.4%	8.8%	0.1%	0.2%	0%	3.1%	[23]
May 20, 2010	University of Medellin	2.4%	5.5%	3.6%	-	32.9%	37.4%	8.1%	0.4%	0.2%	0.1%	6.9%	[24]
May 20, 2010	Centro Nacional De Consultoría	4%	5%	4%	-	39%	34%	9%	0%	0%	0%	4%	[25]
May 21, 2010	Datexco	2%	5%	3%	-	35%	34%	9%	0%	0%	0%	12%	[26]
May 22, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	3%	6%	5%	-	34%	32%	6%	0%	0%	0%	14%	[27]

Second Round: Mockus vs. Santos

Date	Institute	Candidate		Undecided (Ns/Nr) V. None	Source
		Juan Manuel Santos	Antanas Mockus
April 15, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	49%	44%	7%	[28]
April 16, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	45%	37%	18%	[12]
April 22, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	44%	50%	6%	[13]
April 26, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	37%	50%	13%	[14]
April 28, 2010	Invamer Gallup	42.2%	47.9%	9.9%	[15]
April 29, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	42%	53%	5%	[16]
April 30, 2010	Datexco	29%	41.5%	29.5%	[17]
May 6, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	43%	50%	7%	[18]
May 7, 2010	Datexco	30.5%	52%	17.5%	[19]
May 9, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	41%	48%	11%	[20]
May 13, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	47%	47%	6%	[21]
May 14, 2010	Datexco	33.6%	47.9%	17.5%	[22]
May 19, 2010	Invamer Gallup	42.2%	48.5%	9.3%	[23]
May 20, 2010	University of Medellin	36%	41.4%	22.6%	[29]
May 20, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	47%	46%	7%	[25]
May 21, 2010	Datexco	44%	45%	11%	[30]
May 22, 2010	Ipsos Napoleón Franco	40%	45%	15%	[27]
June 3, 2010	Centro Nacional de Consultoría	61.6%	29.8%	5.8%	[31]

Electoral results

On polling day seven Colombian security services personnel were killed and eight were missing; parallels were drawn with FARC attacks and Santos' tenure as Defense Minister.^[32]

Results

No candidate received an outright majority in the first round vote held on May 30. Santos and Mockus faced one another in the runoff election on 20 June, leading to the election of Juan Manuel Santos as the next Colombian President.

Santos achieved a landslide victory, with 69 per cent of the votes.^[33] Mockus got 27.51 per cent of votes.^[34] This was the largest margin of victory for a president in the democratic period of Colombia's history.^[35] Santos won 32 of the country's 33 electoral districts.^[33] His allies have an overwhelming majority in the Colombian Congress.^[33] Santos vowed to continue his predecessor's hardline stance against the country's Marxist rebels.^[33] He paraphrased Isaac Newton – "If we have come far it's because we are standing on the shoulders of giants" – and said he would rid Colombia of what he described as the "nightmare of violence".^[36]

The United States State Department said it was "pleased" with the election of Santos and praised the "spirited debate" before the runoff and Colombia's "longstanding commitment to democratic principles".^[35]

e • d Summary of the 30 May 2010 and 20 June 2010 Colombian presidential election results

Candidates – Parties	First round		Second round
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Juan Manuel Santos – Social Party of National Unity (Partido de «la U»)	6,802,043	46.68	9,028,943	69.13
Antanas Mockus – Green Party (Partido Verde)	3,134,222	21.51	3,587,975	27.47
Germán Vargas Lleras – Radical Change (Cambio Radical)	1,473,627	10.11
Gustavo Petro – Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo)	1,331,267	9.14
Noemí Sanín – Colombian Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Colombiano)	893,819	6.13
Rafael Pardo – Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano)	638,302	4.38
Róbinson Devia – Voice of Conscience Movement (Movimiento la Voz de la Consciencia)	31,338	0.22
Jairo Calderón – Liberal Opening (Movimiento Apertura Liberal)	29,151	0.20
Jaime Araújo – Afro-Colombian Social Alliance (Alianza Social Afrocolombiano)	14,847	0.10
Total votes for candidates	14,348,616	98.46	12,616,918	96.60
Blank votes	223,977	1.54	444,274	3.40
Total valid votes	14,572,593	100.00	13,061,192	100.00
Null votes	170,874		198,003
Unmarked ballots	37,553		37,729
Total votes cast	14,781,020		13,296,924
Source: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil, Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil

See also

• Colombian legislative election, 2010

Notes and references

1. ^ Maximiliano Herrera. "Electoral Calendar- world elections,US elections,presidential election,world parties". Mherrera.org. http://www.mherrera.org/elections.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
2. ^ Markey, Patrick (2010-02-26). "Colombia's Uribe blocked from re-election". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN26220585420100227?type=usDollarRpt. Retrieved 2010-02-26. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Uribe will not run again. Angus Reid Global Monitor. March 14, 2010.
4. ^ "Santos, Sanín Could Go to Run-off in Colombia: Angus Reid Global Monitor". Angus-reid.com. http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/35342/santos_sann_could_go_to_run_off_in_colombia. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
5. ^ La Opinión, ed (24 de marzo de 2010). "Primera gran encuesta de medios sobre intención de voto para las próximas elecciones presidenciales". http://www.laopinion.com.co/noticias/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=347881&Itemid=31. 
6. ^ El Tiempo, ed (26 de marzo de 2010). "Juan Manuel Santos, con 34,1 por ciento, encabeza encuesta de Datexco; Noemí Sanín lo sigue con 21,7". http://www.eltiempo.com/elecciones2010/juan-manuel-santos-y-noemi-sanin-encabezan-encuesta-presidencial-datexco_7481407-1. 
7. ^ Revista Semana, ed (27 de marzo de 2010). "El Partidor". http://www.semana.com/noticias-nacion/partidor/136913.aspx. 
8. ^ Revista Poder, ed (27 de marzo de 2010). "¿Santos vs. Noemí en segunda vuelta?". http://www.poder360.com/article_detail.php?id_article=4013. 
9. ^ Revista Semana, ed (8 de abril de 2010). "Mockus supera a Sanín en encuesta del Centro Nacional de Consultoría". http://www.semana.com/noticias-actividad-politica/mockus-supera-sanin-encuesta-del-centro-nacional-consultoria/137336.aspx. 
10. ^ Diario El Tiempo, ed (9 de abril de 2010). "Nuevo Opinómetro de Datexco revela que Santos y Mockus disputarían la segunda vuelta". http://www.eltiempo.com/elecciones2010/santos-y-mockus-firmes-aspirantes-a-disputar-la-presidencia-en-segunda-vuelta-_7561207-1. 
11. ^ Diario El Espectador, ed (15 de abril de 2010). "Nueva encuesta presidencial revela que Mockus está a sólo 7 puntos de Santos". http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo198416-nueva-encuesta-presidencial-revela-mockus-esta-solo-7-puntos-de-san. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Revista Semana, ed (16 de abril de 2010). "Habría segunda vuelta Santos – Mockus, según Gran Encuesta". http://www.semana.com/noticias-elecciones-2010/habria-segunda-vuelta-santos-mockus-segun-gran-encuesta/137632.aspx. 
13. ^ ^{a b} CM&, ed (22 de abril de 2010). "GRAN ENCUESTA CM&: Antanas Mockus ganaría la Presidencia si la segunda vuelta fuera mañana". http://www.cmi.com.co/?nt=43154. 
14. ^ ^{a b} Semana, ed (26 de abril de 2010). "Mockus 38% – Santos 29%, en primera; Mockus 50% – Santos 37%, en segunda". http://www.semana.com/noticias-elecciones-2010/mockus-38-santos-29-primera-mockus-50-santos-37-segunda/138145.aspx. 
15. ^ ^{a b} Caracol Televisión, ed (28 de abril de 2010). "Santos ganaría en primera vuelta y Mockus, en segunda". http://www.caracoltv.com/node/176594. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Noticiero CM&, ed (29 de abril de 2010). "Candidato Antanas Mockus encabeza nueva encuesta de CM& y el Centro Nacional de Consultoría". http://www.cmi.com.co/?nt=43507. 
17. ^ ^{a b} El Tiempo, ed (30 de abril de 2010). "Mockus tendría el 41,5% de intención de voto en segunda vuelta y Santos el 29%, según Datexco". http://www.eltiempo.com/elecciones2010/encuesta-de-datexco_7688488-1. 
18. ^ ^{a b} El Espectador, ed (6 de mayo de 2010). "Nueva encuesta da a Mockus una ventaja de cuatro puntos sobre Santos". http://elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo201878-nueva-encuesta-da-mockus-una-ventaja-de-cuatro-puntos-sobre-santos. 
19. ^ ^{a b} W Radio, ed (7 de mayo de 2010). "Antanas Mockus con un 37,7% encabeza intención de voto, revela encuesta de Datexco". http://wradio.com.co/nota.aspx?id=1230566. 
20. ^ ^{a b} Semana, ed (9 de mayo de 2010). "¡Empatados!". http://www.semana.com/noticias-nacion/empatados/138625.aspx. 
21. ^ ^{a b} CM&, ed (13 de mayo de 2010). "Nueva gran encuesta presidencial CM& – Centro Nacional de Consultoría". http://www.cmi.com.co/default.asp?nt=44171. 
22. ^ ^{a b} Caracol Radio, ed (14 de mayo de 2010). "Nueva encuesta de Datexco mantiene en primer lugar a Mockus". http://www.caracol.com.co/nota.aspx?id=1298525. 
23. ^ ^{a b} El Tiempo, ed (19 de mayo de 2010). "Santos, con el 37,5%, y Mockus, con el 35,4%, encabezan intención de voto: encuesta Invamer Gallup". http://www.eltiempo.com/elecciones2010/santos-con-el-375-y-mockus-con-el-354-encabezan-intencion-de-voto-encuesta-invamer-gallup_7717085-1. 
24. ^ El Espectador, ed (20 de mayo de 2010). "Segunda Encuesta Elecciones Presidenciales 2010". http://www.eltiempo.com/elecciones2010/santos-39-mockus-34-segun-la-mas-reciente-encuesta-del-centro-nacional-de-consultoria_7718316-1. 
25. ^ ^{a b} El Tiempo, ed (20 de mayo de 2010). "Santos 39%; Mockus 34%, según la más reciente encuesta del centro Nacional de Consultoría". http://www.eltiempo.com/elecciones2010/santos-39-mockus-34-segun-la-mas-reciente-encuesta-del-centro-nacional-de-consultoria_7718316-1. 
26. ^ El Tiempo, ed (21 de mayo de 2010). "Empate técnico entre Santos, con el 35%, y Mockus, con el 34%, revela sondeo de Datexco". http://e.eltiempo.com/media/produccion/encuesta21Mayo/index.html. 
27. ^ ^{a b} El Espectador, ed (22 de mayo de 2010). "Santos ganador en primera vuelta mientras Mockus lo haría en la segunda". http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-204600-santos-ganador-primera-vuelta-mientras-mockus-haria-segunda. 
28. ^ Diario El Pais, ed (15 de abril de 2010). "Según nueva encuesta, Mockus está a siete puntos de Santos". http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Abril152010/encuestapresis.html. 
29. ^ El Espectador, ed (20 de mayo de 2010). "Encuesta de la Universidad de Medellín da como ganador a Mocku". http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-204224-encuesta-de-universidad-de-medellin-da-ganador-mockus. 
30. ^ El Tiempo, ed (21 de mayo de 2010). "Empate técnico entre Santos, con el 35%, y Mockus, con el 34%, revela sondeo de Datexco". http://www.eltiempo.com/elecciones2010/empate-tecnico-entre-santos-y-mockus_7718443-1. 
31. ^ AFP, ed (3 de junio de 2010). "Los sondeos dan una victoria aplastante de Santos en las elecciones de Colombia". http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jgVjbqVJQfff66c25g64PKEpTk_Q. 
32. ^ "Police killed on Colombia poll day - Americas". Al Jazeera English. 2010-05-29. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/06/201062018745679669.html. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
33. ^ ^{a b c d} Hennigan, Tom (22 June 2010). "Landslide win for Santos in Colombian election". The Irish Times (Irish Times Trust). http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0622/1224273028612.html. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
34. ^ Xuequan, Mu (20 June 2010). "Santos elected as new president of Colombia". Xinhua News Agency. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/21/c_13359750.htm. Retrieved 20 June 2010. 
35. ^ ^{a b} "U.S. is 'pleased' with Colombia's new president-elect Santos". The Hindu. 22 June 2010. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article478757.ece. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
36. ^ Murphy, Helen and Bristow, Matthew (21 June 2010). "Colombia's Santos Hails Uribe in Landslide Victory (Correct)". Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-21/colombia-s-santos-hails-uribe-in-landslide-victory-correct-.html. Retrieved 21 June 2010.