Peru's voters face choice of 35 contenders for ninth president in 10 years

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A former minister, a comedian and a political dynasty heiress are among the 35 candidates hoping to become Peru's ninth president in just 10 years.

Sunday's election is taking place during a surge in violent crime and corruption, fueling widespread discontent among voters, who largely view candidates as dishonest and unprepared for the presidency. Many of the candidates have responded to the crime concerns with wide-ranging proposals, including building megaprisons, restricting food for prisoners and reinstating the death penalty for serious crimes.

“You can’t trust anyone anymore, nothing’s going to change,” construction worker Juan Gómez, 53, said as he carried two heavy bags with potatoes and rice to feed his five children. “(Criminals) come on motorcycles, put a gun to your head… you look around and there’s no police officer.

“What are you going to do? You just let them rob you.”

Here’s what to know about the latest presidential contest.

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.

A candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright. However, a runoff in June is virtually assured given the deeply divided electorate and the pool of candidates, the largest in the Andean country’s history.

A major preoccupation is surging crime, which has led to frequent protests. Homicides have doubled and cases of extortion have increased fivefold this decade, according to official data.

“You get on the bus, and you have to sit far from the driver; you don’t know if you’ll make it home alive,” retiree Raúl Zevallos, 63, said. “Criminals drive by on motorcycles, shoot, kill the driver, and you could die, too.”

More than 200 public transportation drivers were killed in Peru in 2025. The same year, a 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.

Thirty-five names are on the ballot, including Keiko Fujimori, a conservative former congresswoman and daughter of the late President Alberto Fujimori. This marks her fourth attempt to become president.

Keiko Fujimori has promised to crack down on crime with an iron fist, but she has also defended laws that experts say make it difficult to prosecute criminals. The laws, which her party backed in recent years, eliminated preliminary detention in certain cases and raised the threshold for seizing criminal assets.

If elected, she has said judges presiding over criminal cases will be anonymous and prisoners will have to work to earn their food.

Also running is Rafael López Aliaga, the conservative former mayor of Peru’s capital, Lima. He has proposed building prisons in the country’s Amazon region, allowing judges to conceal their identities and expelling foreigners who are living illegally in Peru.

Meanwhile, comedian-turned-politician Carlos Álvarez has tried to garner support by promising to convene the leaders of El Salvador, Denmark and Singapore to tap their expertise in security.

Peruvians are also choosing a bicameral Congress for the first time in more than 30 years, following recent reforms of the legislature that will concentrate a great deal of power in the new upper chamber. The president won't be able to dissolve the new Senate, though the chamber will be able to remove a president from power.

Under the new bicameral structure, impeaching the president will be easier, with the Senate only needing 40 of the 60 senators to approve it. Previously, 87 of 130 lawmakers in the unicameral chamber had to vote in favor of removal, and they frequently exercised that power, contributing to the country's revolving door of presidents in the last decade.

The bicameral system is returning even though 80% of voters rejected it in a 2018 referendum. Lawmakers amended the Constitution in 2024 to make it possible.

Alejandro Boyco, a researcher at the Institute of Peruvian Studies, said the Senate will appoint and sanction high-ranking officials, including the country’s ombudsman, constitutional court members and some central bank directors. Senators will also review and amend bills from the lower chamber.

“They’ve concentrated too much power in a 60-people chamber,” Boyco said. “They are not going to be immune to being corrupt.”

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Voters wait for the opening of a polling station during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Keiko Fujimori, presidential candidate of the Popular Force party, departs a polling station after voting during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerardo Marin)

Rafael Lopez Aliaga, presidential candidate of the Popular Renewal, votes during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Keiko Fujimori, presidential candidate of the Popular Force party, after a breakfast with supporters on general elections day in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerardo Marin)

Voters line up at a polling station during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Police inspects a polling station during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Voters line up at a polling station during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

A voter casts a ballot during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Keiko Fujimori, presidential candidate of the Popular Force party, smiles during a visit to the grave of her father, former President Alberto Fujimori, on the day of general elections in Lima, Peru, on Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerardo Marin)

A man checks a voter list at a polling station during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

A voter looks at a ballot before marking his candidates during general elections in Lima, Peru, on Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

COTONOU, Benin (AP) — Voters in Benin cast ballots on Sunday to choose a successor to President Patrice Talon, who is stepping down after a decade in power, leaving a mixed legacy of economic growth, a growing jihadi insurgency in the north, and the suppression of opposition critics.

Romuald Wadagni, the 49-year-old finance minister and governing coalition standard-bearer, is considered Talon’s anointed successor for the seven-year term. Wadagni is being challenged by Paul Hounkpè, the sole opposition candidate.

Nearly 8 million are registered to vote across more than 17,000 polling stations in the West African nation. Benin had over 15 million people in 2024, and like many sub-Saharan African countries, its population is overwhelmingly young. Polls are expected to close at 4 p.m. with the results expected within 48 hours.

Turnout has been low in recent years, and polling stations in Cotonou, the largest city, were sparsely attended throughout the morning. The city was quiet as the election began, with public demonstrations banned on election day, but stores and streets remain open.

Analysts widely expect Wadagni to win after a parliamentary election in January, during which the opposition failed to cross the 20% threshold required to win seats, leaving Talon’s two allied parties in control of all 109 seats in the National Assembly.

Renaud Agbodjo, leader of the Democrats, was barred from competing after failing to secure a sufficient number of parliamentary endorsements — a threshold critics say was engineered to keep rivals out.

Wadagni has touted the country's economic growth during his decade as finance minister as his key strength. Benin’s economy grew 7% last year, making it one of West Africa’s steadiest performers.

“Ten years at the Finance Ministry have given him something rare in African politics: a quantified record — verifiable and difficult to dismantle in a serious debate,” said Fiacre Vidjingninou, political analyst at the Lagos-based Béhanzin Institute.

While Benin has historically been among the most stable democracies in Africa, opposition leaders and human rights organizations have accused Talon of using the justice system as a tool to sideline his political opponents.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced a sustained crackdown on dissent under Talon, citing arbitrary detentions, tighter restrictions on public demonstrations, and mounting pressure on independent media outlets.

Protests over the rising cost of living sprang up in recent years, but the government and security forces clamped down on any dissent.

Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at the Control Risks Group consulting firm, told The Associated Press that, in the event of a Wadagni victory, the new government will likely continue Talon's policies aimed at positioning Benin as a stable investment environment, while facing a largely constrained opposition.

“Wadagni may want to avert a crisis in confidence by first consolidating power then engaging in dialogue with opponents to demonstrate goodwill,” Ochieng said.

In December, a group of military officers attempted to topple Talon’s government in a failed coup, the latest in a series of recent military takeover attempts across Africa. Most attempted coups follow a similar pattern of disputed elections, constitutional upheaval, security crises, and youth discontent.

Among the coup leaders’ key complaints was the deterioration of security in northern Benin.

For years, Benin has faced spillover violence in its north from neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger in their battle against the al-Qaida-affiliated extremist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM.

The tri-border area has long been a hotbed for extremist violence, a trend worsened by the lack of security cooperation with Niger and Burkina Faso, both now led by military juntas.

Electoral officials prepare presidential ballot papers at a polling station in Cotonou, Benin, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)

A woman is verified before casting her ballot at a polling station in Cotonou, Benin, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)

A man casts his ballot at a polling station in Cotonou, Benin, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)

A motorcyclist stands beside a billboard featuring presidential candidate Paul Hounkpe in Cotonou, Benin, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)

Presidential candidate Romuald Wadagni greets supporters at a campaign rally in Cotonou, Benin, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)

Road users pass in front of a campaign billboard for presidential candidate Paul Hounkpe and his running mate, Rock Hounwanou in Cotonou, Benin, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji)