- The MOE will deploy an observation team made up of 20 people and its regional coordination in voting centers located in the most populated areas of the new municipality.
- For these elections, 8 candidates for Mayor were registered and 125 to the Municipal Council.
- Citizens are invited to vote and report any crime or electoral irregularity through the web platform www.pilasconelvoto.com, or WhatsApp: 3152661969.
Bogotá, June 7, 2024. The Electoral Observation Mission -MOE Colombia announces to the public its participation in the observation of the first elections for Mayor and Municipal Council in the recently created municipality of Nuevo Belén de Bajirá, in the department of Chocó, which will take place this Sunday June 9, 2024.
To monitor compliance with the Colombian electoral law, the MOE will deploy a team of 20 observers distributed in the voting centers of Bajirá, Campoalegre, Playa Roja, Blanquicet and Nuevo Oriente, these being the most populated areas of the municipality and thus guaranteeing extensive and detailed coverage of the electoral process.
For Father Manuel Napoleón García, regional coordinator of the MOE in Chocó, “the observation of these elections is especially relevant in the context of the emergence of a new municipality, number 31 of the department, which is expected to contribute to institutional stability, greater governability and progress for the communities of a region with a history of territorial and legal disputes.”
The creation of Nuevo Belén de Bajirá as a municipality took place after a long process of legal and social dispute between the departments of Chocó and Antioquia, and finally occurred with the approval of ordinance 162 of 2022 by the departmental assembly of Chocó ( in December 2022). This decision was reaffirmed through a referendum held in November 2023 where 3,163 people participated. Of the total number of participants, 99.3% of voters supported the idea of creating a new municipality in Chocó.
Nuevo Belén de Bajirá has a population of 26,304 inhabitants distributed between urban and rural areas, and an electoral potential of 8,972 people. For these elections, 8 candidates were registered for the Mayor’s Office (2 women and 6 men), and 125 for the Council, which are represented through 11 political parties.
Finally, the EOM invites citizens to actively participate in this electoral process and to report any crime or electoral irregularity that they witness through the web platform www.pilasconelvoto.com, or through WhatsApp to the number 315 2661969.
2024.06.07-Communication-Observation-New-Belen-de-Bajira
