Peru Elects 2026: Ongoing Coverage of the Presidential Race—The First Round of Debates

The dates: April 12 first round, June 7 runoff, July 28 inauguration 
The details: A candidate needs more than 50 percent of the vote to win outright in the first round. Otherwise, the top two candidates advance to a runoff where an absolute majority wins. A presidential term lasts five years. Reelection is allowed but not consecutively. 
The winner will replace interim President José María Balcázar, who entered office on February 18 as Peru’s ninth president in 10 years. 
Turnout: Turnout averages 81 percent, but was 70 percent in the 2021 first round. 
The voters: 27.3 million; Peruvians living abroad can vote.

The frontrunners: Two right-leaning candidates have polled atop a crowded field of 36 presidential hopefuls. One is businessman and ex-Mayor of Lima  Rafael “Porky” López Aliaga (2023–2025) of the Popular Renewal party (RP). The other is former congresswoman Keiko Fujimori (2006–2011), who lost in the previous three presidential runoffs. The daughter of ex-President Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), she has held sway in Peru’s Congress even out of office through her leadership within the socially conservative People’s Force party.

Other notables: Comedian and TV presenter Carlos Álvarez is the candidate for the right-wing Country for All party. On the left is former Central Bank Director Alfonso López-Chau Nava (2006–2012) of the Now Nation party, who faces investigations for using his position as the president of the National University of Engineering (2021–2025) for political gain. 

• What happened: Candidates addressed crime and corruption, top voter concerns, in the first round of a marathon debate schedule.
• Why it mattered: A notable debate performance could help a candidate emerge from the crowded field trailing frontrunners Keiko Fujimori and Rafael López Aliaga.
• What to watch next: Economy and education will feature as the focus of the second round of debates from March 30 to April 1. 

With 35 candidates in the running for president, Peruvians wanting to hear from all their options must sit through at least 15 hours of debate spread across two three-day blocks. A random draw determined the split of the candidates into groups of 11 or 12 that meet on the debate stage each day. These are then further divided into four groups of three who directly debate each other on the topic at hand. 

¡Llega el gran ciclo de Debates Presidenciales!

Los candidatos a la Presidencia de la República se encuentran frente a frente para exponer sus planes de gobierno. Es el momento de escuchar, contrastar y decidir.

📍Anota las fechas:

📅Primera jornada: 23, 24 y 25 de marzo. pic.twitter.com/bs8SWl4cKw

— JNE Perú (@JNE_Peru) March 17, 2026

The first thematic block of debates, from March 23 to 25, tackled the two top voter worries: crime and corruption. But concrete proposals were scant as candidates spent much of their allotted time exchanging insults and accusations.  

Keiko Fujimori was a popular target. Participating on the last day of the first block, her competitors brought up corruption cases connected to the authoritarian administration of her father, ex-President Alberto Fujimori, for whom she served as first lady. And as head of the Popular Force party that leads a right-wing bloc in Congress, they also blamed her for a decade of political turbulence in which impeachment proceedings have truncated the terms of five presidents.

The other frontrunner, Rafael López Aliaga, came under fire for being the subject of multiple investigations into possible crimes committed during his time as Lima’s mayor. Most recently, Peru’s public ministry opened a case earlier this month into whether he illegally issued municipal bonds worth more than $1.1 billion.  

In terms of actual policy proposals, candidates spoke of the need to for more police funding, as well as better technology, to combat rising rates of extortions and violent crimes. Candidates, including López Aliaga and comedian Carlos Álvarez, also suggested that Peru withdraw from the Inter-American human rights system in order to reinstate the death penalty. Fujimori proposed bringing back masked judges in courtrooms, as was done under her father’s government, an idea also supported by López Aliaga.   

Peru’s 2026 election will operate at an unprecedented scale. From the historic number of presidential candidates to an electorate that has grown by 65 percent over twenty years, the April 12 elections are already breaking records.

AS/COA Online highlights a few key facts and figures to shed insight into who’s voting, what they’re voting for, and what’s top of mind for voters when they cast ballots. 

17.3 X 16.5 inches. Those are the dimensions of the largest ballots that will be cast in this year’s general elections...

Get all the numbers here.