Colombian Registraduría official charged with demanding $100 million for 1,000 votes

Jairo Winston Mendoza Soto, an auxiliary administrative employee of the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil in Montería, was indicted by the Fiscalía General de la Nación for the crime of concusión. Prosecutors allege that on 25 February he contacted former congressional candidate Ana Cristina Muñoz, offering to secure roughly 1,000 votes in the 8 March legislative elections in exchange for a payment of 100 million Colombian pesos. A second meeting at a local café reportedly reinforced the demand, with Mendoza Soto claiming the ability to manipulate the vote count.

Muñoz supplied recordings and photographs of the encounters and reported the matter to authorities, later meeting with Interior Minister Armando Benedetti. Mendoza Soto denied the accusations; the case now proceeds before a control‑guarantees judge.

The investigation highlights alleged vote‑buying and potential electoral manipulation in Colombia’s Córdoba department.