Colombians did not overwhelmingly back a candidate on Sunday's election, prompting a runoff vote three weeks from now. The two leading contenders will remain on the election cycle; however, what is at stake is more than Colombia's new president.

On May 25, the conservative opponent Oscar Ivan Zuluaga gained the greatest votes, but it was not enough to make him president, leading to the runoff election on June 15. According to the Mexican newspaper Excelsior, Zuluaga won 29.3 percent of the vote while incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos came in second with 25.6 percent. A candidate must win more than 50 percent of the vote to win the presidency.

Although both men served together in the same cabinet, the Excelsior explains the candidates' strategies on how to deal with the FARC rebel group. Zuluaga has made his intentions to stop the peace talks underway, if elected, well known. Colombia has not seen peace in almost half a century and Santos has been in peace negotiations with the rebel group for about two years. A Zuluaga win could derail the talks and send Colombia back into war.

However, the greater support for Zuluaga in the first round of voting could mean that Colombians do not want peace through negotiations. He argues the rebels ought not to seek the opportunity to run for positions of authority, according to the Excelsior; however, completely destroying the group through violence could be a much longer and costly endeavor.

The AP reports Santos' campaign has begun to foreshadow a Zuluaga win as the return to violence, arguing that the runoff will be a choice between "fear and hope." Although Santos was former conservative president and Zuluaga mentor, Alvaro Uribe's former defense minister and also achieved many victories against FARC, Santos opted for peaceful negotiations.

"The choice is between those of us who want to put an end to the war and those who want a war without end," Santos, 62, told supporters in Bogota, who responded with shouts of "Peace for Colombia!"

However, the scandal and mudslinging that permeated the weeks leading up to the first election round disgusted many Colombians and kept them at home. According to the AP, only 40 percent of the 33 million eligible voters went to the polls. This is Colombia's lowest voter turnout in decades.

Excelsior adds that both remaining candidates seek political alliances to strengthen their turnouts in three weeks time. The remaining parties and their candidates have to decide who to back and hopefully that will prompt their supporters to vote for one of the two candidates. Marta Lucia Ramirez of the Conservative Party came in third place with 15.53 percent and Clara Lopez of the left-wing Democratic Pole gained 15.23 percent. The last candidate, Enrique Penalosa of the Green Alliance, won 8.29 percent.

With whom the parties will side remains uncertain. However, previous campaigning shows Lopez and Penalosa support the peace talks while Ramirez does not. According to Reuters, on Wednesday Ramirez announced her support for Zuluaga. However, the news agency adds that lawmakers within her party support Santos. They could sway their individual districts for Santos.

"I'm hugely grateful for this backing, which will be definitive. We will triumph on June 15," Santos said after meeting with the Conservative lawmakers.

Reuters adds that Penalosa has decided against endorsing either party, allowing his supporters to do as they wish. Meanwhile, Lopez has yet to announce a decision.