The battle to be mayor of Lima, finally won by Susana Villaran, may have been the tightest electoral race in Peru’s history. It was certainly one of the most drawn-out. Electoral officials took more than three weeks to recount 8,384 ballots that were challenged over technical errors such as missing fingerprints and signatures on tally sheets.
Exasperated Lima residents, who cast their votes on 3 October, took to the streets in protest just a day before conservative candidate Lourdes Flores conceded defeat to Ms Villaran. Ms Villaran, the candidate for a leftist movement known as Fuerza Social (Social Force), becomes the first elected female mayor of the Peruvian capital since it was founded in 1532.
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Ms Villaran favours gay marriage and the decriminalisation of abortion, both deeply controversial topics in Peru. Her stance could have lost her votes. Nonetheless, her campaign slogan “hope will conquer fear” finally won through, albeit by the smallest of margins.
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