The Electoral Transparency Foundation expresses concern over drastic budget cuts to National Electoral Council of Colombia

The Electoral Transparency Foundation expresses concerns about the budget cuts to the National Electoral Council of Colombia, established by decree no. 0069 of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of that country, which reduces the budget of the electoral body to less than half.
The National Registrar’s Office and the National Electoral Council make up what is known in Colombia as the Electoral Organization. Although the Registrar is responsible for a large part of the procedures and operations aimed at carrying out the electoral processes, the CNE (per its acronym in Spanish) also has a key role to guarantee the transparency of elections, and is in charge of activities related to the training and accreditation of electoral witnesses, the formation of electoral guarantees tribunals and the carrying out of the general scrutiny to declare the official result of the vote.
According to the entity, the resources deferred by executive decree were intended for tasks arising from around twenty atypical elections that must be held this year, referring both to the elections of Municipal Youth Councils to be held in October and whose schedule begins on February 23rd, as well as to the preparatory activities for the Congressional and Presidential Elections of 2026.
These decisions go against the international principles of electoral integrity, since they seek to inhibit the performance of an institution whose objective is to ensure transparency in electoral processes and guarantee the effective and equitable political participation of all Colombians.
Electoral processes, as one of the fundamental pillars of democratic regimes, must have adequate resources and institutional support to achieve optimal levels of integrity and transparency.
In view of this situation, the Electoral Transparency Foundation urges the authorities of the national Executive Branch and the State of Colombia to take the necessary measures so that this drastic budget reduction does not compromise the quality of the elections scheduled for 2026, and to guarantee that the National Electoral Council can carry out its responsibilities freely and without undue interference from actors outside the electoral function.