A runoff election Sunday will allow Peruvians to choose their ninth president in just 10 years, either the conservative daughter of a disgraced former president or a nationalist congressman.Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez beat 33 other candidates in an April contest with promises to end rising crime, the top priority for Peruvians who have seen the country’s homicide rates double and cases of extortion soar this decade. Still, each received less than 20% of support. Sunday’s results are expected to be tight, and the final outcome may not be known for days. Electoral authorities took more than a month to officially declare Fujimori — daughter of the late and convicted former president Alberto Fujimori — and Sánchez — ally of the imprisoned former President Pedro Castillo — the winners of the April 12 vote.Here’s what to know about the election.
Voting is mandatoryVoting is mandatory for Peruvians from the ages of 18 to 70. More than 27 million people are registered, and of those, about 1.2 million are expected to cast ballots from abroad, mainly in the United States and Argentina.Many among them have signaled that they remain undecided.“There is a large group of undecided voters … I think that’s where the emotionally driven anti-votes will play out the final battle,” political analyst Iván García said.
