Peru celebrates this Sunday the second round of the presidential elections, a key day in which "far-right candidate Keiko Fujimori" and "left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez" are vying for control of the Executive. The polling stations have opened at 7:00 AM — 2:00 PM in mainland Spain — and will remain open until 5:00 PM.
Fujimori began the day by visiting a polling station for her party's representatives, Fuerza Popular, in the Lima district of Villa El Salvador. From there, she emphasized the magnitude of her party's deployment, with "95,000 volunteers" involved in overseeing the process.
The candidate defended the oversight work carried out by her representatives at the polling stations. "We have spoken with the heads of each voting center. There are 95,000 representatives accompanying us," she stated, highlighting the role of these teams throughout the day.
She later participated in the traditional electoral breakfast in the district of Juan de Lurigancho. There she stated: "I believe this will be my last electoral breakfast as a candidate for the presidency of the Republic," alluding to the fact that this is her fourth attempt to reach the head of state.
In her statements, Fujimori also emphasized the importance of maintaining "friendship" ties with Latin American countries, and particularly with neighboring states. "We seek above all to confront organized crime and drug trafficking. I believe there is a willingness for all countries in this region, especially the most affected: Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Colombia, which will have a change of government," she proposed.
The Fuerza Popular candidate cast her vote at the Libertador San Martín school, located in the Lima district of San Borja. After voting, she posed for the cameras and left, escorted by a significant security detail, without offering further statements to the media.
"For his part, Sánchez began the day in Huaral, north of Lima, and appealed for a vote "with hope." He defined the election day as "Today is a blessed day of hope," before calling for a "democratic vote, a vote of conscience, and a vote of love for our homeland," with the aim of lifting up a country "with zero discrimination, zero poverty, and with much justice and democracy." At his electoral breakfast, Sánchez opted for chicharrón with sweet potato.
"We urge and invoke all Peruvians, those from the deepest villages, the northern, central, southern, eastern cities of the homeland to fulfill their democratic vocation as responsibly as possible," has asked the candidate of Juntos por el Perú. He is scheduled to cast his ballot at Colegio María Reiche, also in the district of San Borja, in Lima.
More than 27 million Peruvian citizens have been called to vote in this second round, which will continue until 5:00 p.m. —12:00 a.m. in peninsular Spain—. In addition, numerous embassies and consulates have set up ballot boxes abroad, given that 1,210,813 Peruvians residing outside the country are on the census and can exercise their right to vote.
Installation of polling stations and security deployment
Electoral authorities have reported the installation of 92,766 polling stations throughout the national territory, of which 2,260 are located in Metropolitan Lima and the Constitutional Province of Callao. In this latter area, serious logistical problems were registered in the first round due to the distribution of electoral material.
The National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) has assured that 100 percent of the required material has been distributed to all voting centers in Lima and Callao. However, the National Elections Jury (JNE) has reported that, almost four hours after the start of the day, there were still 10,064 polling stations not constituted, which is equivalent to 11.15% of the total. In contrast, 80,159 polling stations had already been installed, meaning 88.85%.
From ONPE they have specified that, at 8:57 a.m., 90% of the polling stations had the necessary material for their start-up. In parallel, a broad security operation has been organized, with 45,000 members of the Armed Forces and 61,000 agents of the National Police deployed to guarantee order and normality of the process.
The latest Ipsos poll places Fujimori, candidate for Fuerza Popular, with 38% intention to vote, compared to the 35% that her opponent from Juntos por el Perú would obtain. In the first round, held on April 12, Fujimori won with 17% of the votes in a scenario of strong vote dispersion, with 35 presidential candidates, and amid deep social fatigue from successive political crises that have led the country to have ten different presidents in the last ten years.