Peruvians will vote in a runoff to pick a ninth president in 10 years as crime fears dominate

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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 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.

Peruvians’ main concern is surging crime, particularly extortion, which has led to frequent protests. A 2025 national survey carried out by the state’s National Institute of Statistics and Informatics found that 84% of respondents in urban areas feared becoming victims of a crime in the following 12 months.

Experts attribute the increasing power of organized crime in Peru to the profits that decades-old criminal groups are earning from illegal gold mining in the Andes and the Amazon. In 2025, Peru exported 100 tons of illegally mined gold, nearly on par with its exports of gold mined legally.

In the last five years, extortion complaints across the country increased fivefold, reaching 28,948 cases last year, while killings doubled, reaching 2,226 in 2025, according to official data.

The Ministry of Economy estimated in July that crime costs Peruvians some $5 billion annually. This figure includes state investment to fund police operations, but also private spending on surveillance cameras and security guards.

Peru’s economy, however, has defied both crime and the political instability stemming from a revolving door of presidents, having had three since October alone. Aided by its status as the world’s second largest copper producer, the country posted more than 3% growth in 2024 and 2025.

Fujimori, 51, is on her fourth attempt to become president.

Throughout the campaign, she promised to crack down on crime with an iron fist. Her proposals include implementing technology to track extortions, militarizing borders and increasing the presence of police and military personnel in high-risk areas. She has also said that prisoners will be required to work and “repay society.”

In the only debate prior to the runoff, Fujimori defended her father’s government and promised to defeat crime just as he defeated the Shining Path terrorist group.

She told voters that should she win, they will see “cheaper chicken, affordable gas cylinders, reasonably priced fertilizers for your crops” and will "return home safe and sound.”

In recent weeks, however, Fujimori has also attempted to soften her tough-on-crime image with friendly gestures toward former political adversaries, such as former President Pedro Kuczynski, who defeated her in the 2016 elections.

Kuczynski resigned in 2018 amid calls for his removal, driven by Fujimori’s party, who later apologized to him for generating instability.

“I know that throughout my political life I have made mistakes, and I have learned from them,” Fujimori said during the debate.

Meanwhile, Sánchez, a former minister, has tried to ease the concerns his candidacy is generating among investors, saying he will not nationalize any assets of transnational companies that extract minerals or gas from Peru.

He has also pledged to combat corruption within the police force and promote reforms that would enable the military to support security efforts.

During the debate, Sánchez, who is popular with rural voters, said he would be open to “all options to generate jobs and progress” but also emphasized his support for Chinese investments.

He told The Associated Press that he will seek to renegotiate mining contracts, including the one for Las Bambas, one of the world’s largest copper mines, controlled by the Chinese state-owned company Minmetals.

The 57-year-old, who wears a wide-brimmed peasant hat given to him by Castillo, has also distanced himself from ultranationalist ally Antauro Humala — a former military officer and brother of the imprisoned former President Ollanta Humala — who proposes applying the death penalty in corruption cases.

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