1936 Peruvian general election

General elections were held in Peru on 11 October 1936.[1] In the presidential election, Luis A. Eguiguren of the Social Democratic Party appeared to be heading for victory, but outgoing president Óscar R. Benavides ordered the count to be stopped and the election results were subsequently annulled.

Background

Incumbent president Benavides' term of office was due to expire in December 1936. He announced that he would not run for re-election and called elections for 11 October.[1] There were eighteen political parties in existence, but most ran as alliances in the election.[1] Four candidates were approved to run for office, with the election commission barring Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) under article 53 of the constitution, which banned 'international parties'.[1] The APRA subsequently convinced Luis Antonio Eguiguren to disown the National Front of Jorge Prado Ugarteche and organise his own Democratic Front, which the APRA called for its members to vote for.[1]

Results

When it appeared Eguiguren was winning, Benavides ordered the count to be suspended on the basis that members of the banned APRA had voted for him.[1] At the point it was stopped on 21 October, with 70 of the 119 provinces having completed the count, Eguiguren had 74,485 votes,[2] or 37% of the total.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Luis A. Eguiguren	Social Democratic Party	74,485	37.13
	Jorge Prado Ugarteche	Conservative Coalition	50,162	25.00
	Luis A. Flores	Revolutionary Union	46,803	23.33
	Manuel Vicente Villarán	Independent	29,166	14.54
Total			200,616	100.00
Source: Torres[3]

Aftermath

Under pressure from Benavides,[1] on 4 November the outgoing Congress met and declared the election annulled. A motion by the Revolutionary Union that accused Benavides of having "presented the presidential and parliamentary elections of the period 1936–1941" was defeated by 64 votes to 13.[2] Benavides subsequently forced Congress to pass a law extending his term until 1939 and then dissolved the legislature, instead ruling by decree and forming a new all-military government.[1]

References

1. Elections and Events 1930-1949 The Library, UC San Diego
2. La anulacion de las elecciones generales del 11 de octubre en el Peru por el Jurado Nacional Laa Nacion, 6 November 1936, p11
3. Luis Chanduví Torres (1988) El APRA por dentro: lo que hice, lo que vi, y lo que sé, 1931-1957, p235