Fraud in the CUT elections? Alleged contempt over court ruling | Más Colombia
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Fraud in the CUT elections? Alleged contempt over court ruling

With several complaints about alleged fraud in the CUT elections, this Central Obrera elected its new National Executive Committee. The result could change due to the action of a Court.
CUT, Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, CUT election complaints, CUT election fraud, Más Colombia

Members denounced alleged fraud in the CUT elections, by means of which the National Executive Committee was elected. The elections of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores were held on May 26. The scrutiny began that day and continued until June 23.

Through a statement signed on June 23 at 5:10 p.m., three members of the National Electoral Tribunal of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores expressed their “disagreement with the procedure” of that tribunal “for the elections to the National Executive Committee”.


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According to the complainants, there are several acts that would constitute fraud in the CUT elections that support their disagreement.

On one hand, they claim that the electoral process was closed without the scrutiny being completed, due to the fact that the votes of all the municipalities and all the departments of the country had not been counted. With this decision, several votes and reports could not be registered in the electoral computer system.

On the other hand, the National Electoral Tribunal of the CUT did not pronounce itself in view of the inconsistencies reported by several candidates, for which reason it remained “without resolving the manifest situation of having digital data without the support of votes and physical minutes”. In addition, the signatories claim that the final minutes were not issued for the whole Tribunal to know the results.

A union leader affiliated to the CUT who made a public statement on the matter, Ruth Mariela Fernández, stated that in the elections of this Central Obrera, there were other irregularities. According to her claim, these include a number of votes exceeding the number of persons qualified to vote, a list that does not coincide with the actual members of the Central, and the counting of electoral cards that do not have the signatures of jurors.

Municipal court orders the CUT to “refrain from terminating the vote count”

Considering that inconsistencies had been occurring throughout the electoral process, union leader Jhonson Torres Ortiz filed a tutela before the court of the municipality of Puerto Wilches, in Santander. On June 13, the court ordered the following:


“In accordance with Article 7 of Law 2591 of 1991, PROVISIONAL MEASURE is decreed, and therefore the CENTRAL UNITARIA DE TRABAJERADORES is ordered to refrain from finalizing the vote count for the National Executive Committee of the CUT and for the Santander Executive Committee of the CUT, and to refrain from registering before the Ministry of Labor the new National and Santander Executive Committee of the CUT until this office rules on the tutela”.

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However, the National Electoral Tribunal of the CUT declared the counting of votes closed, disregarding the decision of the Court and avoiding counting the votes of the municipalities where the counting had not yet been carried out.

Court opens contempt motion for alleged fraud in CUT elections

Yesterday afternoon, the Court of Puerto Wilches formally opened “the incident of contempt in reason of this Tutela against the NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE CENTRAL WORKERS CENTER OF THE CUT AND THE SANTANDER DEPARTMENTAL COURT OF THE CUT”.

Likewise, the court required the legal representatives of the National Executive Committee, the National Electoral Tribunal, and the Departmental Tribunal of Santander to explain why they did not comply with the ruling of the Court, “since their conduct would be violating fundamental guarantees of the plaintiff”.

According to union leader Diógenes Orjuela, behind the decision to close the scrutiny, a fact that he described as “untimely and arbitrary”, would be the outgoing CUT president and prosecutor, Francisco Maltés and Fabio Arias.

However, despite the contempt of court ruling issued by the court of Puerto Wilches, the CUT published the statement that “presents its new National Executive Committee for the period 2023-2027, which will be in charge of the representation of the affiliated workers in the different spaces where the Central has a presence”.

The statement indicates that the new president of the CUT is Fabio Arias Giraldo and presents the other twenty members of the National Executive Committee, a list that remains in question until the complaints of alleged fraud in the elections of the CUT are resolved.


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