Colombia right wing candidate de la Espriella, leftist Cepeda poised to head to run-off

(Corrects spelling of de la Espriella’s name in first ​paragraph)

By Julia ‌Symmes Cobb

BOGOTA, May 31 (Reuters) – Colombian right wing outsider Abelardo de la ‌Espriella is ​poised to ⁠compete in ⁠a runoff in the country’s presidential race against leftist senator Ivan ​Cepeda, data from the country’s national ⁠registry ⁠office showed on ​Sunday, after no candidate ​reached the more than ‌50% support needed to avoid a second round with ⁠a majority of votes counted.

De la Espriella and ⁠Cepeda ‌were running extremely ⁠close in ​tallies, ‌with the right ​wing lawyer ⁠notching 44.2% support and the long-time senator and activist 41%.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes ​Cobb)