Polls opened in Peru on Sunday in a runoff between presidential candidates Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sanchez, with the winner poised to be the country’s ninth leader in a decade.
Fujimori's right-wing Popular Force party secured 17 percent of the vote, while Sanchez's leftist Together for Peru clinched 12 percent among more than two dozen candidates in the first round of the April elections.
Front-runner Fujimori, 51, is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who governed the country from 1990 to 2000. Keiko Fujimori has campaigned on law and order, promising to crack down on surging crime and violent extortions, while vowing to attract foreign investment and slash red tape.
Her challenger, Roberto Sanchez, 57, served as a minister under jailed ex-President Pedro Castillo. He has pledged greater state oversight of Peru's natural resources, a wealth tax on Peru's wealthiest, and a rewriting of the constitution.
The winner of Sunday's election, which began at 7 am local time (1200GMT) and is set to continue for 10 hours in a country with over 27 million voters, will be inaugurated on July 28 for a five-year term.
