These are the candidates who are running for the municipality of Lima two months before the 2022 elections.

Less than two months after Regional and municipal elections – 2022The National Electoral Jury (JNE) has declared five candidates for the municipality of Lima ineligible. After the deadline for the publication of the accepted lists and the withdrawal of candidates, the electoral body considered that the statements of Luis Molina (Country Success), William Flores (Purple party), Julio Lingan (Patriotic Party of Peru), Alvaro Paz de la Barra (Faith in Peru) D Alex Gonzalez (Green Democrat) did not meet the established requirements. It is worth noting that the last two could not even complete the registration of their matches.

Although William Flowers D Louis Molina have publicly announced their intention to file an amparo appeal in Power of attorney, according to electoral experts, they will not return to the competition, as the time for consideration of cases exceeds the election schedule. Former Minister of Justice Ana Neira believes that it is not easy for judicial decisions to adapt to the time of the process.

“Usually [las resoluciones de estos casos] they are issued after the completion of the applicant’s registration phase and are therefore not accepted. One thing the Court has said is that the stages of the electoral process, which are preliminary, must be respected. After the expiration of the term, they cannot be returned, ”says an expert lawyer on electoral issues.

Candidates for the competition

Seven candidates officially continue to fight for a seat in the municipality. Among them, four are already registered, that is, they completed the consideration of their applications without any problems. “There have been rare cases of EPP ex officio verification, but as a rule, a list that appears as a registered or registered candidate will participate in the elections,” notes Ana Neira.

These candidates are:

George Forsyth (We Peru): the former mayor of La Victoria remains out of this campaign. For this competition, he joined the party founded by Alberto Andrade.

Rafael López Allaga (People’s Update): Having tempted the presidency, the businessman set the goal of the municipal seat. In previous opinion polls, he is fighting for first place with Daniel Urresti.

Elizabeth Leon Chinchay (Front of Hope Party 2021): She is the only candidate for mayor of Lima in this election campaign. The engineer does not record the experience of previous selections.

Gonzalo Alegria (Together for Peru): try contacting the mayor of Lima again like you did in 2010. On this occasion, he participated, topping the “People’s Action” list.

In the race, but during the outs

Other Poll Leading Candidates, Daniel Urresti (We Can), Yuri Castro (Free Peru) and former congressman Omar Shehade (Alliance for Progress) they continue to run for office but are in the process of being struck off, meaning that their lists can be observed by civil society. They, although they were admitted, have a deadline for resolving these objections in the first instance, which is 18 August according to the electoral calendar.

“A vice is the right of a citizen to challenge a candidate or a list of candidates. Clearly, there must be a violation of the Electoral Law, which the Special Electoral Jury did not notice, and an amount of 25% of UIT must be paid. [de parte del ciudadano] file this appeal,” says lawyer José Tello Alfaro, associate member of the Peruvian Institute of Electoral Law (IPDE).

special case

Situation Country SuccessA group led by Miraflores Mayor Luis Molina stands apart. Of the 40 members of the list of candidates for the metropolitan of Lima (including the mayor, deputy mayor and aldermen), only one of its members was admitted: Maria Elena Soto, candidate for the municipal council. Although she will run as a mayoral candidate, if she wins the most votes, she can take the office of mayor.

“If he wins, he will become mayor, and there will be problems in determining how to complete the Council. Because the winner is the list that should take half plus one of the seats in the municipal council. it would have to include the only candidate for mayor and the following lists as part of the opposition,” Hara explains.

Impact on voting intent

The reduction of options (the beginning of 12 lists, now there would be only 7 candidates) affects the decision of the electorate. Political analyst Omar Awapara believes that with this purge of candidates, the candidates with the most media coverage will ultimately gain an advantage. “The reduction in the number of candidates for the mayor of Lima probably means that the votes of citizens are concentrated behind the most famous persons. Due to the fact that some of them have already been presidential candidates and have a fairly high degree of recall,” he says.

For Tello Alfaro, for his part, in this scenario, the candidates admitted to the race have the opportunity to win the votes that originally went to other options. “It is important to capture the votes of those citizens who feel that their option, for which they were going to vote, is no longer in the race. It is important to reach out to these citizens who had a penchant for a certain candidate, and in their absence become indecisive,” he notes.