LIMA, Peru — Peruvian voters will have to wait until at least Monday to learn the outcome of Sunday’s presidential election after the process was hampered by logistical problems that left thousands unable to cast ballots.
Electoral authorities allowed more than 52,000 residents of Lima to vote on Monday. The extension, announced after counting began Sunday evening, also covers Peruvians registered to vote in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey. Officials initially reported 63,300 people could vote Monday but later revised the figure downward.
Voting is mandatory for Peruvians ages 18 to 70; failure to vote can bring a fine of up to $32.
Thirty-five candidates are vying to become Peru’s ninth president in a decade, including a former minister, a comedian and a political heiress. The election takes place amid a surge in violent crime and entrenched corruption that have fueled widespread voter discontent. Many contenders have proposed tough measures on crime, such as building megaprisons, restricting food for prisoners and reinstating the death penalty for serious offenses.
Nurse Heidy Justiniano, 33, said she had not decided whom to vote for while waiting in line outside a public school in Lima. “There’s so much crime, so many robberies on every corner; a bus driver was killed. What matters most to us right now is safety, the lives of every person,” she said. “Politicians don’t always keep their promises. This time, we have to choose our president wisely so that he can improve Peru.”
More than 27 million people are registered to vote; about 1.2 million cast ballots abroad, mainly in the United States and Argentina. A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright, but a June runoff is virtually assured given the divided electorate and the record field of candidates.
Voters are also choosing members of a newly formed bicameral Congress for the first time in more than 30 years, after legislative reforms that concentrate significant power in the new upper chamber.