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Peruvians vote in runoff to pick next president

Xinhua, June 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Peruvians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president in a runoff vote between two candidates who both signal a continuation of the country's centrist government.

Out of an initial field of 10 candidates, presidential hopeful Keiko Fujimori, of the Popular Force (FP) party, won the first round on April 10 with just under 40 percent of the votes, with Pedro Kuczynski, of the Peruvians for Change (PPK) party, coming in second with 21 percent of the votes.

The winner of Sunday's runoff, in which nearly 23 million Peruvians were eligible to vote, will take office July 2.

Fujimori, 41, went to cast her vote "amid tight security," state news agency Andina reported, saying security guards escorted her to the entrance of the polling station in the capital's Surco district, and were there to escort her out.

The daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who is serving time in prison on corruption charges and human rights violations, posed for selfies with several voters and urged Peruvians "to go vote without fear."

Kuczynski, 77, cast his vote at a school in the district of San Isidro, telling voters to "vote with democracy and dialogue in mind, because that is going to save us from corruption, drug trafficking and going under."

According to Peru's National Office for Electoral Processes (ONPE), 5,086 voting stations were opened across the country, and 100,000 police and military troops were deployed to ensure the process went smoothly.

As in previous elections, voters in 19 capital districts and in the seaport of Callao would cast their vote electronically, while in the rest of the country voters marked a ballot by hand, the ONPE said.

Some 884,924 Peruvians residing abroad were eligible to vote.

Though official results are not expected until Monday, the results of exit polls were expected after polls closed at 4 p.m. local time. Endit