1936 Peruvian general election

1936 Peruvian general election

← 1931 11 October 1936 1939 →

Presidential election

Nominee Luis A. Eguiguren Luis A. Flores Party Social Democratic [es] Revolutionary Union Popular vote 76,042 57,838 Percentage 37.13% 29.1%   Nominee Jorge Prado Ugarteche [es] Manuel Vicente Villarán [es] Party Conservative [es] Independent Popular vote 57,838 30,803 Percentage 20.7% 13.1%

President before election Óscar R. Benavides Military junta Elected President Election results annulled

General elections were held in Peru on 11 October 1936.^[1] In the presidential election, Luis A. Eguiguren of the Social Democratic Party [es] appeared to be heading for victory, but outgoing president Óscar R. Benavides who favored Jorge Prado Ugarteche [es], ordered the count to be stopped and the election results were subsequently annulled.^[2] Benavides subsequently stayed in power as president.^[2]

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. The election commission barred Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) on 5 September 1936^[2] 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 [es] and organise his own Democratic Front, which the APRA called for its members to vote for.^[1]

Results

President

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,^[3] or 37% of the total.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Luis A. Eguiguren	Social Democratic Party [es]	76,042	35.96
	Luis A. Flores	Conservative Coalition [es]	57,838	27.35
	Jorge Prado Ugarteche [es]	Revolutionary Union	46,773	22.12
	Manuel Vicente Villarán [es]	Independent	30,803	14.57
Total			211,456	100.00
Source: [4][5]

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.^[3] 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". library.ucsd.edu. Archived from the original on 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2025-09-09.
2. Bertram, Geoffrey (1991), Bethell, Leslie (ed.), "Peru, 1930–60", The Cambridge History of Latin America: Volume 8: Latin America since 1930: Spanish South America, vol. 8, Cambridge University Press, pp. 383–450, doi:10.1017/chol9780521266529.008, ISBN 978-0-521-26652-9
3. La anulacion de las elecciones generales del 11 de octubre en el Peru por el Jurado Nacional Laa Nacion, 6 November 1936, p11
4. Molinari, Morales (2004). La Unión Revolucionaria, 1931-1939 : una aproximación a la historia del fascismo en el Perú. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
5. Corrales, Cobas; Efraín, Manuel (2018-07-15). "Las elecciones de 1936 y su anulación". Revista de sociología. 26: 251–290.