1946 Colombian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 5 May 1946, pitching the Colombian Conservative Party against two different Colombian Liberal Party candidates.[1] The Liberals received more votes combined, but due to their division the result was a victory for Mariano Ospina Pérez of the Conservative Party, who received 41.4% of the vote.[2] One of the Liberal candidates, Gabriel Turbay, was also supported by the Social Democratic Party.[2]

1946 Colombian presidential election

5 May 1946

Nominee Mariano Ospina Pérez Gabriel Turbay Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Party Conservative Liberal Liberal Dissidence Popular vote 565,939 441,199 358,957 Percentage 41.4% 32.3% 26.3%

President before election Alfonso López Pumarejo Liberal Elected President Mariano Ospina Pérez Conservative

Two years after the election, the second Liberal Party candidate, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala, was assassinated. This in turn sparked a ten-year civil war known as La Violencia.[2]

Results

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Mariano Ospina Pérez	Conservative Party	565,939	41.4
Gabriel Turbay	Liberal Party	441,199	32.3
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala	Liberal Party (split)	358,957	26.3
Invalid/blank votes		177	–
Total		1,366,272	100
Registered voters/turnout		2,450,596	55.8
Source: Nohlen

References

1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p305 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
2. Nohlen, p351