World
El Comercio gathered official data and government plans from Peru's 36 presidential candidates for 2026
The special report by the Peruvian newspaper reviews information from the résumés submitted to the JNE and adds a comparison of campaign proposals. The material notes that the data are self-declared and subject to verification.
El Comercio Peru published a special report with information on the 36 presidential candidates for the 2026 elections, compiled from the résumés submitted to the National Jury of Elections and from the government plans presented by the political groups.
According to that review, among the 36 registered candidates only 4 are women, equivalent to 11.11% of the total. In addition, 27 candidates are also running for a seat in the bicameral Congress: 6 in the Chamber of Deputies and 21 in the Senate.
The outlet noted that 35 of the 36 candidates declared they were born in Peru and that only one reported being born abroad: George Forsyth, in Venezuela. It also indicated that 19 candidates were born in Lima, which represents 52.8% of the total.
On the academic front, El Comercio Peru reported that 15 candidates declared having a master’s degree and 10 a doctorate. In addition, 6 are listed as bachelor’s degree holders, 2 as licensed professionals and 2 reported secondary school as their highest level attained. The report adds that 13 candidates have higher education studies outside Peru, in countries such as Cuba, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, Argentina, Mexico and Chile.
The special report also underscores that there are 38 political organizations eligible for the general elections, although Frepap and Ciudadanos por el Peru did not register a presidential ticket, reducing the race for the presidency to 36 candidacies.
On the electoral dynamic, El Comercio Peru explained that the presidential vote does not guarantee legislative representation, since a “double threshold” applies to access the allocation of seats. It also reported that 16 vice-presidential candidates will head a congressional list and that at least 11 parties reserved the first spot on their Senate list for Lima for a guest, affiliated or not.
In parallel, the newspaper released another tool to compare the official government plans submitted to the JNE. There it said the work classifies and summarizes proposals with the help of artificial intelligence and human editorial validation, without recommending an electoral option or determining which plan is better.
According to that analysis, some plans cover up to 17 thematic areas and others only 9, with an average of 15 topics per party. El Comercio Peru indicated that Economy, Education, Infrastructure and Health appear in almost all platforms, while Family, Culture and Transportation have a limited presence or are directly omitted by some groups.
The outlet added that the economy accounts for the largest volume of words in the plans, with 14.23% of the national average, followed by social programs with 13.8%. It clarified, in any case, that a greater presence of a topic does not necessarily imply better proposals or greater depth.
For both the résumés and the government plans, El Comercio Peru specified that it worked with public information from the JNE through automation, cleaning and classification processes, along with subsequent editorial review. In the case of the résumés, it also clarified that these are official but self-declared statements, so they may contain omissions or inaccuracies and remain subject to verification and possible challenges.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
