Nuevo Belén de Bajirá, in the department of Chocó, will finally have its own mayor and Municipal Council, thanks to the first territorial elections that will be held in the municipality which was created by departmental ordinance in December 2022 and ratified as such in a citizen referendum (November 2023).
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According to the National Registry, in total there are 8,972 citizens authorized to participate in the election day this Sunday, June 9 in the most recently created municipality in Colombia.
Of that total, 4,004 are women and 4,968 are men, who They will be able to approach one of the 11 voting stations with their original citizenship card, between 8 am and 4 pm. installed in the municipal seat (one position) and in 10 in townships.
The Registrar’s Office specified that for these municipal elections, 31 voting tables were set up and 231 jurors were appointed (186 members and 45 remainder).
For its part, the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) said that, in view of this democratic day, it will deploy a team of 20 observers distributed in the voting centers located in the most populated areas of the municipality: Bajirá, Campoalegre, Playa Roja, Blanquicet and Nuevo Oriente.
To check your voting location, go to this link.
What is chosen in Nuevo Belén de Bajirá this June 9?
On its first election day as a municipality, In Nuevo Belén de Bajirá the mayor and the municipal council will be elected.
For the election of the local representative, voters will receive a card on which they must mark only one option of interest from a list of 8 candidates (2 women and 6 men, from 8 different parties), who are accompanied by the traditional blank voting box.
Regarding the election of municipal lobbyists, the card that will be delivered to voters has a total of 125 candidacies representing 11 political parties.
According to MOE records, Nuevo Belén de Bajirá has a population of 26,304 inhabitants distributed between urban and rural areas. Of these, 8,972 people are on the electoral roll, meaning that this number of people is qualified to vote on Sunday.
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Nuevo Belén de Bajirá, the youngest municipality in Colombia
The MOE recalls that the creation of Nuevo Belén de Bajirá as a municipality occurred “after a long process of legal and social dispute between the departments of Chocó and Antioquia.”
Finally, Its transition from township to municipality occurred with the approval of ordinance 162 of December 2022 in the departmental assembly of Chocó.
This is mentioned by the MOE, which also remembers that the decision was reaffirmed through a referendum that took place on November 26, 2023. 3,163 people participated in that popular consultation and 99.3% of voters said ‘Yes’. to the creation of the new municipality.
According to data from the National Registry, Nuevo Belén de Bajirá thus became municipality number 31 in the department of Chocó and number 1,104 in Colombia.
