Overview
- The First Preliminary Investigation Court of the Flagrancy Unit of Arequipa imposed a four-year prison term that was suspended and converted into 208 days of community service and a S/2,000 payment to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) after the defendant accepted responsibility.
- Prosecutors say the personero took 261 ballots after the official count at the Mario Vargas Llosa school in the Mariano Melgar district, hid them in a food box and later stored them at his home where investigators recovered the material.
- The defendant admitted the crime under a terminación anticipada early-termination plea and was charged with an offense described in court as an attack on the right to vote.
- Electoral and judicial authorities report the stolen ballots had already been counted before they were removed, and they say the incident did not change the certified vote totals.
- The case highlights practical risks in post-count custody of electoral materials, points to the ONPE as the institution that may need to tighten chain-of-custody rules, and could prompt reviews of how party representatives are supervised at polling sites.