LIMA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Peruvians will go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president, two vice presidents, 130 legislators and five representatives to the Andean Parliament.

In the running are 18 presidential hopefuls, with five candidates currently leading the pre-election polls: Yonhy Lescano of the Popular Action party, Hernando de Soto (Avanza Pais), George Forsyth (National Victory), Veronika Mendoza (Together for Peru) and Keiko Fujimori (Popular Force).

According to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), which organizes elections in Peru, voters can choose their preferred polling stations in a digital system in advance.

Electoral authorities have taken steps to ensure proper social distancing and sanitary measures at polling stations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 1.5 million people and led to more than 53,000 deaths in the country.

Among the 25,287,954 Peruvians eligible to vote in this election, nearly 1 million living abroad will vote in at least 204 cities in 76 countries, according to the electoral roll crafted by the country's civil registration body.

However, Peruvians residing in Chile will not be able to exercise their franchise, because the anti-pandemic measures in force there "very strictly limit the displacement of people residing in that country," the ONPE said.

Peruvians residing in Venezuela will also be unable to vote because, according to Peru's Foreign Affairs Ministry, officials did not receive a "timely response" from Caracas with regard to setting up polling outposts in the nation.

As reported in recent days by the National Elections Jury, 17 international observer organizations have been accredited so far, including the Washington-based Organization of American States, to help verify the electoral process.

The winners will take office at the end of July to serve the 2021-2026 term, and if no presidential candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote, the first-round winner and runner-up will face off in a runoff in June. Enditem

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