LIMA, June 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peru opened on Sunday morning more than 12,000 voting centers for the second round of presidential elections.
A total of 25,287,954 Peruvians are eligible to vote in the election, which will decide whether Keiko Fujimori or Pedro Castillo will accede to the presidency for the period of 2021 to 2026.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) has established a series of biosafety measures at voting stations.
For this election, scheduled from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time, thousands of police and members of the armed forces have been deployed to monitor voting stations and keep the peace.
Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti urged citizens to “consolidate democracy” by voting in the elections.
“It is important to cast your vote to consolidate democracy and for us to have as many voters as possible,” said the president after voting in Lima.
The president of the National Elections Jury (JNE), Jorge Salas Arenas, said that 8,248 political representatives, 8,085 police officers, 7,518 members of the armed forces and 150 international observers have been installed at voting centers across the country.
He said that so far, no acts of violence have been recorded.
Opinion polls up to the day of the election had indicated a statistical dead heat, with Fujimori, who had earlier trailed Castillo, pulling slightly ahead at the end of campaigning.
Polls showed urban and higher-income citizens prefer Fujimori, while the rural poor largely support Castillo.
Both candidates have pledged vastly different remedies for rescuing Peru from the economic doldrums brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, which has seen it lead the world in per capital deaths. — NNN-AGENCIES
