Thousands of Voters Flocked to Falls Church Sunday to Elect the Next President of Peru

Peruvians from Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, West Virginia and Kentucky traveled to and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church to cast their votes in the run-off Peruvian presidential election Sunday.

Voters were placing their votes to determine if former Peruvian military officer Ollanta Humala or Keiko Fujimori, daughter of imprisoned former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori would become the next president of Peru.

Humala unofficially declared victory Sunday night in Peru’s capital of Lima. According to the New York Times, as of Sunday night with roughly 75 percent of the votes tallied, Humala held a slight lead of about 21,000 votes over Fujimori.

Maria Chiozza, the Deputy Consul General of Peru, said this election is important to Peruvians because it will decide their nation’s future.

“The economic situation in Peru is good right now, but it could be greatly improved,” Chiozza said. “The two candidates will implement very different courses of action concerning the economy and the foreign investment and trade agreements coming into our country, and I know that is weighing heavily on the minds of voters.”

The General Consul of Peru ran the election, and officials estimated over 18,000 Peruvians from the surrounding aforementioned states attended. Controversy surrounds the history of each candidate, as Humala led a failed military revolt in 2000 and is suspected of having tortured civilians while serving in the military during the 1990s, and voters are still weary of the authoritarianism style rule involving human rights violations that occurred under Keiko’s father during his 10 year regime as president.

Droves of Peruvians flooded the area around the two institutions within the Falls Church City Public Schools. Water stations, police and paramedics were on hand to make sure people moved along orderly and stayed hydrated as they waited in line for their opportunity to vote.

The Washington, D.C. area is the fourth most populous region for Peruvians in the United States, Chiozza said, behind New York, New Jersey and Miami.  Northern Virginia in particular is a popular destination for Peruvian immigrants, which is why their general elections have been held at Mason High during the last decade.

Chiozza and the Consul were thankful for the retired Peace Corps Volunteers, who deployed 30 members from Peru and the United States to the high school and middle school polling stations to help run the voting booths and assist voters.  She also thanked members of the Hermandad del Senor de los Milagros’ (Brotherhood of the Lord), a Peruvian Catholic religious organization, for providing volunteer help as well.

“Peruvians abroad are very interested in the government of our nation, which is why we hold these elections in other countries to allow all Peruvians across the globe to have input,” said Chiozza.