A woman fills in a ballot at a polling station in Lima, Peru, April 11, 2021. Elections began at 7:00 a.m. local time on Sunday in Peru, where more than 25 million people are eligible to vote. Voters will cast their vote for the president, two vice presidents, 130 congressmen, and five representatives to the Andean Parliament. (Photo by Mariana Bazo/Xinhua)
LIMA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Elections began at 7:00 a.m. local time on Sunday in Peru, where more than 25 million people are eligible to vote.
Voters will cast their vote for the president, two vice presidents, 130 congressmen, and five representatives to the Andean Parliament.
The National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) said on Twitter that polling station officials are performing "their civic work" throughout the country, though local media say that there are reports of problems with the installation of some voting tables.
Peruvians will choose between 18 presidential candidates, and if one of them achieves at least 50 percent of the vote, this would avoid the necessity of a second round of election, and the winner would take office on July 28.
About 90,000 members of the national police and 62,000 members of the armed forces are enforcing security at polling stations around the country and observers from 17 international organizations are monitoring the elections process.
The elections come at a difficult time for the Andean country, which on Saturday confirmed a spike in the number of daily deaths from the novel coronavirus disease.
The ONPE has arranged a series of biosafety measures at voting centers to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in the country, where the number of total cases has risen to 1,639,767, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health. Enditem
