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LATIN AMERICA SPECIAL REPORT

LATIN AMERICA SPECIAL REPORT

June 2026 Elections in Peru and Colombia

Compulsory Voting, Legislative Reforms and the Legal Framework of the Peace Process

Introduction

The presidential elections held in Peru and Colombia in June 2026 proceeded to a run-off after no candidate secured the required majority in the first round. In both countries, security, public order, economic expectations and the effectiveness of state institutions were among the principal issues on the electoral agenda. There were, however, important differences between the two systems: in Peru, voting is compulsory until the age of seventy, and voters who fail to attend the polls are subject to fines that vary according to the poverty classification of their district of residence; in Colombia, voting is voluntary and non-participation is not subject to a general sanction. While Peru’s long-standing tensions between the executive and the legislature and the search for political stability came to the fore, Colombia’s election was shaped by the post-FARC peace process, the fight against drug-trafficking organisations and the future of negotiations with armed groups. Viewed alongside the rightward shift observed across Latin America in recent years, both elections indicate that expectations of security, stability and effective government are playing an increasingly important role in voter preferences.

1. 2026 General Elections in the Republic of Peru

Compulsory voting: Failure to vote is subject to a fine

Peru’s general election of 12 April 2026 and the presidential run-off of 7 June 2026 constituted an important constitutional and political process concerning the presidency, electoral administration and the restructuring of the legislature. The elections were not limited to a presidential contest between two candidates; they were also legally significant in terms of the operation of compulsory voting, the administration of a broad electoral register, vote counting and scrutiny of polling records, the role of electoral adjudication, and Peru’s return to a bicameral Congress.

Voting as both a right and a duty

In Peru, voting is not only a political right but also a civic duty backed by sanctions. The principal legal basis for this obligation is Article 9 of Ley Orgánica de Elecciones, Ley No. 26859 (Organic Law on Elections). Under that provision, Peruvian citizens whose civil rights remain in force are required to vote; voting is optional for electors over the age of seventy.

Administrative fines imposed on electors who fail to vote are determined, pursuant to Ley No. 28859 (Law on the Gradation of Electoral Fines), according to the socioeconomic classification of the district in which the elector is registered. For the 2026 elections, the fine for failure to vote was 27.50 Peruvian soles (approximately TRY 371) for electors registered in districts classified as extremely poor, 55 Peruvian soles (approximately TRY 743) for electors registered in poor districts, and 110 Peruvian soles (approximately TRY 1,485) for electors registered in districts not classified as poor.

Service as a polling-station official is also a public duty under Articles 55 and 58 of the relevant electoral law (Ley Orgánica de Elecciones). Pursuant to Article 251 of the same Law, persons selected as polling-station officials who fail to report for duty or refuse to serve on the polling board are subject to an administrative fine of 275 Peruvian soles, equivalent to approximately TRY 3,713.

Ratio legis

The ratio legis of these sanctions is to safeguard the right to vote as a public civic duty serving democratic legitimacy. The fine for failure to vote is intended to increase electoral participation, while the sanction relating to polling-station service seeks to ensure that polling boards are fully constituted, that voting and counting proceed without disruption, and that the electoral administration remains operational.

Run-off and certification process

In the run-off, Keiko Fujimori appears to be leading with approximately 50.05% of the vote, according to the latest data from ONPE (Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes). Roberto Sánchez has received approximately 49.95%. As the margin remains at approximately 18,000 votes, the result will become legally final only after the review of polling records and objections before the JNE (National Jury of Elections) has been completed. Accordingly, although the electoral outcome appears in practical terms to favour Fujimori, the electoral adjudication process remains decisive for the formal proclamation of the presidency.

Candidate / Party Legal status Political position and principal framework
Keiko Fujimori – Fuerza Popular (50.05%) One of the two candidates contesting the run-off. The result will acquire final legal effect once the count, scrutiny of polling records and electoral adjudication processes have been completed. A conservative-right candidate whose campaign emphasises public order, security and economic stability.
Roberto Sánchez – Juntos por el Perú (49.95%) One of the two candidates contesting the run-off. Owing to the narrow margin, the distinction between valid and invalid ballots, scrutiny of polling records and objection procedures has acquired legal significance. A left-wing candidate whose campaign emphasises social policy, public services, rural representation and constitutional reform.

Electoral system, electorate and turnout

The President of Peru is elected directly by the people. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of valid votes in the first round, a run-off is held between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes. No candidate secured the required majority in the first round of the 2026 election; the presidential election therefore proceeded to a second round.

According to the preliminary results of the 2025 National Population Census, Peru has a population of 34,157,732. The electoral register approved for the 2026 elections contained 27,325,432 electors. Of these, 26,114,619 were registered within the country and 1,210,813 abroad. The register comprised 13,544,326 male and 13,781,106 female electors. The same register was used for the run-off, which was administered through 92,766 polling boards, 10,554 voting centres and 126 decentralised electoral offices.

Voting in Peru is, as a rule, compulsory; turnout therefore reflects not only political engagement but also the compulsory voting system. Published count data for the run-off indicate turnout of approximately 71%, with more than 19 million electors casting ballots. Final turnout and result figures become definitive after the review of contested polling records and the resolution of electoral disputes.

Population 34,157,732 persons
Electoral register 27,325,432 electors
Electors abroad 1,210,813 electors
Turnout Approximately 71%

Restoration of the bicameral legislature

The return of the Peruvian Congress to a bicameral structure in the 2026 elections constitutes an important constitutional change in the country’s legislative architecture. Peru’s legislature previously consisted of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. Following Alberto Fujimori’s dissolution of Congress in 1992, which brought about a de facto interruption of the constitutional order, the 1993 Constitution established a unicameral Congress. The 2024 constitutional reform altered this model and re-established Congress as a 60-member Senate and a 130-member Chamber of Deputies.

This is not an aristocratic or hereditary upper-chamber model comparable to the United Kingdom’s House of Lords; both chambers are democratically constituted through elections. The chambers are not, however, functionally identical. The Chamber of Deputies is the lower chamber in which political representation is reflected more directly, while the Senate is designed as an upper chamber that reviews bills at a second stage, acts as an institutional filter in the legislative process, and is expected to strengthen checks and balances.

The principal ratio legis of the reform is to improve legislative quality by introducing a second stage of review, to prevent the adoption of hurried or insufficiently debated legislation, and to establish a more balanced institutional structure in relations between the executive and the legislature.

Peru’s political system

  • Form of government: Under the 1993 Constitution, Peru is a unitary republic based on a presidential system.
  • Executive: The President is Head of State and the central actor within the executive; the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister operate within the executive branch.
  • Legislature: With the 2026 elections, Congress returned to a bicameral structure consisting of a 60-member Senate and a 130-member Chamber of Deputies.
  • Electoral system: The President is elected under a two-round system; legislative elections use proportional representation, electoral districts and threshold mechanisms.
  • Electoral administration: ONPE is responsible for the technical organisation of elections and the publication of results; the JNE is responsible for electoral disputes and final electoral adjudication.
  • Institutional balance: The presidential system operates alongside Congress’s oversight and removal powers; relations between the executive and legislature remain one of the constitutionally sensitive areas of the system.

2. 2026 Presidential Election in the Republic of Colombia

The post-FARC peace process, criminal organisations and the security agenda

The first round of the presidential election on 31 May 2026 and the run-off on 21 June 2026 did more than determine Colombia’s new Head of State. The election marked a political juncture at which the country’s security policy after the Petro administration, the post-FARC peace settlement, the fight against the illicit drug economy and the state’s capacity to exercise authority in rural areas were reconsidered.

Espriella won by a narrow margin

The run-off was contested between Abelardo de la Espriella, the right-wing candidate of the Defenders of the Homeland Movement, and Iván Cepeda, the candidate of the governing left-wing bloc. The preliminary count and the first official canvass figures made public indicated that Espriella was ahead by a very narrow margin. The election was therefore significant both for the change in the direction of government and for bringing the official counting and objection mechanisms into public view.

Candidate / Party Legal status Political position and principal framework
Abelardo de la Espriella – Defenders of the Homeland Movement (49.66%) The leading candidate in the run-off. The result will acquire legal certainty as the official canvass (escrutinio), which largely corresponds with the preliminary count (preconteo), and the objection process are completed. A right-wing, security-oriented candidate who emphasised public order, combating criminal organisations, reducing the size of the state and closer relations with the United States under the Trump administration.
Iván Cepeda – Historical Pact / left-wing bloc (48.70%) The other candidate contesting the run-off. Owing to the narrow margin, the E-14 forms, scrutiny of polling records and polling-station-level objections acquired particular importance. He campaigned on a pledge to continue the Petro administration’s social reforms, peace negotiations and more interventionist social-state policy.

Abelardo de la Espriella ranked first with 12,959,542 votes and 49.66%, while Iván Cepeda received 12,708,712 votes and 48.70%. The margin was approximately 250,830 votes. Although blank ballots, invalid ballots and objection procedures continued to sustain political debate, the existing difference constituted a margin unlikely to be overcome through isolated polling-station errors alone.

Electoral system, electorate and turnout

The President of Colombia is elected directly by the people. Pursuant to Article 190 of the 1991 Constitution, the President and Vice-President are elected for a four-year term by direct and secret vote of the citizens. If no candidate obtains more than half of the votes in the first round, a run-off is held between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes; the candidate who receives more votes at that stage is elected President.

The underlying logic of this system has two stages: the first round permits political pluralism and a diversity of candidacies, while the second round ensures that the person assuming executive office is supported by a concentrated choice between two candidates. Approximately 41.4 million electors were registered for the 2026 elections. More than 26 million votes were cast in the run-off, resulting in turnout of approximately 63.6%.

Population Approximately 53.9 million persons
Electoral register Approximately 41.4 million electors
Electors abroad 1,414,661 electors
Turnout / votes cast Approximately 63.6%; more than 26 million votes

The roots of Colombia’s security problem

Colombia’s security problem cannot be reduced to an ordinary question of public order. In the country’s recent history, non-state armed actors, drug cartels, left-wing guerrilla organisations, right-wing paramilitary structures and organised criminal networks have operated simultaneously. Accordingly, the security pledges made during the 2026 election did not concern only the reduction of theft or extortion in cities; they also encompassed whether the state could re-establish authority in rural areas, disrupt drug-trafficking routes, implement earlier peace commitments and decide whether to negotiate with armed groups.

What is FARC?

FARC is the abbreviation of Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo, which may be translated as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army. It was a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla organisation that emerged in the 1960s. Initially, it sought to establish political legitimacy by invoking rural poverty, unequal land distribution and the limited presence of the state in certain regions; over time, it became one of the principal actors in the internal conflict through methods including kidnapping, extortion, illegal taxation, participation in the proceeds of drug trafficking and armed territorial control.

FARC’s significance lies in the fact that the conflict between the Colombian state and FARC lasted for more than half a century and shaped not only the security institutions but also rural property relations, displacement, the illicit drug economy, victims’ rights and political participation. The FARC question should therefore be understood not merely as a matter of combating an organisation, but as a problem of re-establishing the state’s effective authority throughout its territory.

What did the 2016 FARC Peace Agreement provide for?

The peace process between the Colombian state and FARC-EP was conducted through Havana-based negotiations under the government of Juan Manuel Santos, and the revised Final Agreement was signed on 24 November 2016. The Agreement was not simply a ceasefire instrument. Its central purpose was to regulate FARC’s transition to civilian and political life in return for disarmament, to establish truth, justice and reparation mechanisms for victims, and to produce structural solutions in areas that had fuelled the conflict, including rural inequality and the illicit drug economy.

Agreement heading Substantive content
1. Comprehensive rural reform The Agreement sought to improve access to land and rural infrastructure, combat poverty and extend public services to conflict-affected areas.
2. Political participation It aimed to enable FARC members to move from armed struggle into lawful political activity and to strengthen security guarantees for the opposition.
3. End of the conflict It regulated the ceasefire, the laying down of arms, assembly areas for former combatants, reintegration into society and international verification mechanisms.
4. Illicit drugs It sought to establish crop-substitution programmes for regions dependent on coca cultivation, combat trafficking and sever the financing of the conflict by the illicit drug economy.
5. Victims and transitional justice It provided for the Truth Commission, the JEP, compensation, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition. Rather than absolute impunity for serious crimes, it adopted a conditional and restorative justice model.
6. Implementation and verification National institutions, international verification and monitoring mechanisms such as the Kroc Institute were activated to support implementation of the Agreement.

JEP: The criminal-law pillar of the peace process

The JEP is the most critical legal institution of the peace process: Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz, or the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. It is a transitional justice mechanism that differs from ordinary criminal adjudication. Former FARC members, members of the state security forces and certain third parties connected with the conflict may, subject to specified conditions, appear before this jurisdiction.

The JEP operates as follows: where a person fully discloses the crimes, accepts responsibility, contributes to reparation for victims and complies with guarantees of non-repetition, that person may benefit from less severe, restorative sanctions. JEP materials provide for an effective restriction of liberty for five to eight years for persons who fully acknowledge responsibility; imprisonment for five to eight years for persons who disclose the truth and acknowledge responsibility belatedly; and imprisonment for fifteen to twenty years for persons who deny responsibility but are convicted following trial. To address allegations of ‘impunity’, the model is structured around victims’ right to truth, acknowledgement of responsibility and the duty to provide reparation.

Why did the conflict continue after FARC?

The 2016 Agreement led the principal FARC structure to lay down its arms, but it did not bring violence in Colombia to a complete end. Three types of actor are particularly prominent in the current security landscape. FARC dissidents are former FARC elements that either never joined the 2016 Agreement or subsequently withdrew from the process. The ELN is a separate and older left-wing guerrilla organisation. Clan del Golfo is an organised criminal network rooted in the paramilitary legacy and linked to drug trafficking and other illicit economies.

According to the security situation ahead of the 2026 election, the total manpower of illegal armed groups increased from approximately 13,000 in 2022 to 25,000 in the first half of 2026; these groups became particularly influential along drug-trafficking routes and in areas of illegal mining.

What was Petro’s ‘Total Peace’ policy?

Gustavo Petro’s Paz Total, or ‘Total Peace’, policy sought not only to implement the post-FARC settlement but also to reduce violence through negotiations with other armed actors in the country. This approach produced a broad peace agenda encompassing ceasefires, negotiations or the possibility of demobilisation in return for legal benefits with the ELN, FARC dissidents and certain organised criminal structures.

According to its supporters, a durable solution in Colombia cannot be achieved through military operations alone; the state must deliver services to rural areas, create economic alternatives and keep channels of negotiation open to facilitate the dismantling of armed groups. Critics argue that prolonged negotiations and the prospect of legal benefits gave armed groups additional time and, in certain regions, strengthened their territorial control and bargaining power.

The defining issue in the 2026 election

The distinction between Espriella’s pledge to “end the peace talks and intensify the military campaign” and Cepeda’s approach of “dismantling the organisations through negotiation in return for legal benefits” defined the security and transitional-justice axis of Colombia’s election.

Colombia’s political system

  • Form of government: Under the 1991 Constitution, Colombia is a unitary republic based on a presidential system, while incorporating elements of administrative decentralisation.
  • Executive: The President is simultaneously Head of State, Head of Government and the highest administrative authority. The presidential election therefore directly determines the direction of executive policy.
  • Legislature: Colombia’s legislative body is the Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la República). Congress has a bicameral structure consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
  • Principle of representation: The Senate represents the political will formed at the national level, while the House of Representatives provides representation primarily through territorial and special electoral constituencies.
  • Electoral system: The President is elected under a two-round system. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first round, a run-off is held between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes.
  • Electoral administration: The Registraduría Nacional (National Civil Registry and Electoral Authority) is responsible for organising elections, maintaining electoral registers and publishing preliminary results; the Consejo Nacional Electoral (National Electoral Council) and the official canvassing bodies are responsible for oversight and the finalisation of results.

3. References

Peru sources

Colombia sources

Prepared by: Ahmet Deveci
Date of preparation: 2 July 2026