Voters have to choose from 35 presidential candidates, including a comedian, a media mogul and the heiress to a political dynasty.
Published on 12 April 2026
Voting has begun in Peru for presidential and legislative elections, with no clear contender in sight amid years of political instability.
Since 2018, Peru has seen eight presidents, with a high turnover rate due to impeachment and corruption scandals, leading to voter disillusionment with weak governments.
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About 27 million Peruvians are eligible to vote on Sunday to elect the country’s ninth leader in a decade, with polling stations across the country opening at 7 a.m. (12:00 GMT) and closing at 5 p.m. (22:00 GMT), and preliminary results expected shortly after.
With 35 candidates for the presidency, Peruvians will choose from a wide range of potential leaders, including a comedian, a media baron, a political dynasty heir and a radical ex-mayor who compares himself to a cartoon pig.
However, all the major candidates are polling well below the 50 percent required to win the election, making voting likely to be held on June 7.
A fruit seller in Lima told Reuters news agency that she still had not decided who to vote for.
“Peru is a mess, and there is no candidate worth voting for,” said Gloria Padilla.
Maria Fernandez, a 56-year-old textile merchant, echoed the same sentiment.
“I will not vote for anyone. I am very disappointed with everyone in power,” Fernandez told AFP news agency.
“We are ruled by none other than corrupt, thieving scoundrels,” he said.
The best-known candidate is conservative Keiko Fujimori, who will run for president for the fourth time after reaching the run-offs in the three previous races.
While Fujimori has taken up the position of guarantor of order and economic stability, his candidacy remains polarized due to his family legacy. His father, former President Alberto Fujimori, was convicted of human rights abuses and corruption before dying in 2024.
On the eve of the election, Fujimori told AFP news agency that if she won she would “restore order” in her first 100 days, send the military to jail, deport illegal immigrants and strengthen border security.
At the other end of the political spectrum, Ricardo Belmonte – the former mayor of the capital Lima, running for the centre-left civic party Obras – was polling in second place.
Popular comedian Carlos Alvarez trails Belmonte in pre-election polls and has campaigned on a platform of being tough on crime, as Peru’s murder rate has more than doubled in the past decade.
