Senate Secretary speaks out after Armando Benedetti alleges fraud in referendum vote
Senate Secretary Diego González spoke out following accusations from Interior Minister Armando Benedetti , who alleged fraud in the referendum vote. González rejected the allegations and denied having changed a vote of Congressman Edgar Díaz of the Cambio Radical party to defeat the initiative.
The referendum, proposed by President Gustavo Petro's government after the dismissal of the labor reform last March, failed with 49 votes against and 47 in favor. After the vote, the Minister of the Interior asserted that "there was fraud" in the legislature.
According to her accusations, the Senate secretary "added a name to the NO vote to scuttle the Popular Consultation." In a video she shared on her X account, she claimed that González crossed out a YES vote and changed it. Without that, Benedetti said, the vote would have been 48-48.
Interior Minister Armando Benedetti's publication. Photo: Screenshot @AABenedetti
The Senate secretary asserted that this is a "reckless" accusation and that his office has provided the government with every guarantee in the legislature. He also indicated that it was impossible to change a vote in front of so many people and that videos of the moment showed that no change took place.
"That's not true, and it's a reckless and unfair statement because they know for a fact that this Secretariat has provided every guarantee to the National Government," González said.
At no point was a vote added. How am I going to add a vote and remove a vote when everyone was there?
And he added: " At no time was a vote added. How can I add a vote and remove a vote when everyone was there? There are cameras, there are videos. I have nothing more to say than what is purely legal, and that is that the secretary does not vote. He only counts the votes of those who cast their votes electronically and manually."
#MinutoAMinuto Senate Secretary Diego González denied committing "fraud" during the vote count in the referendum. He said it's "false" that a vote was changed to favor the opposition. González showed the manual vote certifying... pic.twitter.com/Mh6iv2CyDZ
— La FM (@lafm) May 14, 2025
Regarding the legal actions the government will take, he stated that he has no plans to respond to them and that his conscience is clear. "The secretary reports the outcome, which everyone can publicly see on the screens," he emphasized.
Senator Edgar Díaz, of Cambio Radical, also spoke out, saying that his vote was always against the referendum.
"My public vote, and my vote based on the party's decision, was always NO. Even if some try to confuse public opinion, it will not change the legitimate and democratic decision we made in the Senate, sinking this unnecessary consultation. The consultation was simply sunk by majority," he wrote on his X account.
This was the vote on the referendum in the Senate. LATEST NEWS EDITORIAL
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