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Peru’s National Office of Electoral Process (ONPE) extended presidential and congressional elections into a second day Monday after a private contractor failed to deliver ballots to dozens of polling stations across Lima, preventing more than 52,000 citizens from voting on time.
The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE), Peru’s top electoral court, approved ONPE’s request for an extraordinary voting session on Monday at 13 polling centers in Lima districts of Lurin, Pachacamac, and San Juan de Miraflores, where 187 voting tables could not be set up on Sunday due to missing voting materials. The extension also covered Peruvian voters registered in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey, who faced similar logistical failures.
The JNE simultaneously ordered that no election results, exit polls, or quick counts be published until all voting had concluded. Despite the prohibition, exit polls published Sunday evening, before the extension was formally decided, were already widely available and showed Fuerza Popular party candidate Keiko Fujimori leading with roughly 16.5 percent. ONPE’s partial official count, which began Sunday night, also remained publicly accessible on its website throughout Monday.
The situation raised concerns among legal commentators and political actors about whether Monday’s voters could exercise their right to vote free from the influence of preliminary results, in potential violation of the constitutional principle of unity of the electoral act–a requirement that all voters cast their ballots under equal conditions.
ONPE head Piero Corvetto atributed the failures to Servicios Generales Galaga, the private company contracted to transport electoral materials to polling sites in southern Lima. Corvetto apologized to voters and announced the agency would pursue legal and criminal action against the company. Galaga responded Monday that its transport service was carried out according to schedules provided by ONPE and that factors outside its control caused delays, stating they would sue ONPE for reputation damages.
The failures triggered an immediate institutional response. Peru’s Public Ministry and National Police raided ONPE’s headquarters on Sunday to investigate the delays. The JNE filed a criminal complaint against Corvetto and three other ONPE officials, as well as Galaga’s legal representative, for alleged offenses including obstruction of the electoral process and violations of the right to vote. Peru’s Congressional Oversight Committee summoned both Corvetto and JNE President Roberto Burneo to testify on Monday.
Voting in Peru is mandatory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old, with fines of up to $32 for failure to vote. More than 27 million Peruvians were registered to cast ballots for a new president and, for the first time in more than 30 years, a bicameral Congress, with all 60 Senate and 130 lower house seats.
Early results, with more than 70 percent of ballots counted, show Fujimori leading with approximately 16 percent, though a June 7 runoff is virtually assured given that no candidate is expected to surpass the 50 percent threshold required to win outright.
The election comes amid a surge in violent crime and deep political instability. Peru has had nine presidents in the last decade.
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The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE), Peru’s top electoral court, approved ONPE’s request for an extraordinary voting session on Monday at 13 polling centers in Lima districts of Lurin, Pachacamac, and San Juan de Miraflores, where 187 voting tables could not be set up on Sunday due to missing voting materials. The extension also covered Peruvian voters registered in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey, who faced similar logistical failures.
The JNE simultaneously ordered that no election results, exit polls, or quick counts be published until all voting had concluded. Despite the prohibition, exit polls published Sunday evening, before the extension was formally decided, were already widely available and showed Fuerza Popular party candidate Keiko Fujimori leading with roughly 16.5 percent. ONPE’s partial official count, which began Sunday night, also remained publicly accessible on its website throughout Monday.
The situation raised concerns among legal commentators and political actors about whether Monday’s voters could exercise their right to vote free from the influence of preliminary results, in potential violation of the constitutional principle of unity of the electoral act–a requirement that all voters cast their ballots under equal conditions.
ONPE head Piero Corvetto atributed the failures to Servicios Generales Galaga, the private company contracted to transport electoral materials to polling sites in southern Lima. Corvetto apologized to voters and announced the agency would pursue legal and criminal action against the company. Galaga responded Monday that its transport service was carried out according to schedules provided by ONPE and that factors outside its control caused delays, stating they would sue ONPE for reputation damages.
The failures triggered an immediate institutional response. Peru’s Public Ministry and National Police raided ONPE’s headquarters on Sunday to investigate the delays. The JNE filed a criminal complaint against Corvetto and three other ONPE officials, as well as Galaga’s legal representative, for alleged offenses including obstruction of the electoral process and violations of the right to vote. Peru’s Congressional Oversight Committee summoned both Corvetto and JNE President Roberto Burneo to testify on Monday.
Voting in Peru is mandatory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old, with fines of up to $32 for failure to vote. More than 27 million Peruvians were registered to cast ballots for a new president and, for the first time in more than 30 years, a bicameral Congress, with all 60 Senate and 130 lower house seats.
Early results, with more than 70 percent of ballots counted, show Fujimori leading with approximately 16 percent, though a June 7 runoff is virtually assured given that no candidate is expected to surpass the 50 percent threshold required to win outright.
The election comes amid a surge in violent crime and deep political instability. Peru has had nine presidents in the last decade.
The post Peru extends presidential election after ballot delivery failures leave thousands unable to vote appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.