Early results show conservative well ahead in Colombia election

A supporter of Ivan Duque, candidate of the Democratic Centre party, celebrates the incoming results of the presidential runoff election in Bogota, Colombia. Photos / AP

Early results in Colombia's presidential race indicate conservative Ivan Duque is well ahead.

An initial count of 22 per cent of polling stations reporting shows Duque leading by 18 percentage points over former leftist guerrilla-turned-politico Gustavo Petro in the race to succeed President Juan Manuel Santos.

Duque is the protege of influential former President Alvaro Uribe and would become the nation's youngest president in over a century.

He is promising changes the nation's historic peace accord with leftist rebels.

Official results in Colombia's presidential runoff vote show electoral authorities understated the turnout.

When polls closed, National Registrar Juan Carlos Galindo said just 44 per cent of registered voters had cast ballots.

That would have been one of the lowest participation rates for Colombians in recent memory.

But with returns in from more than 99 per cent of polling stations, the reported turnout is 53 per cent — just below the level in the first round of voting three weeks ago and the highest in a Colombian presidential runoff since 1998.

Gustavo Petro, presidential candidate for Colombia Humana, kisses his daughter Antonella as he shows his marked ballot to the press, in Bogota.

Ivan Duque, candidate of the Democratic Centre party, greets supporters after voting in Bogota.

- AP