1872 Peruvian presidential election

1872 Peruvian presidential election

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Candidate Manuel Pardo Antonio Arenas Manuel Toribio Ureta  [ es ] Party Civilista Party Civilista Party Electoral vote 2,706 Percentage 69.35%

President before election Mariano Herencia Zevallos Elected President Manuel Pardo Civilista Party

Presidential elections were held in Peru in May 1872. Manuel Pardo of the Civilista Party was elected with 69% of the vote, becoming the first civilian to be elected to the presidency and the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election in Peru. ^[1]

They have been described as the first free and fair elections in Peruvian history. ^[2]

Electoral system

The elections were indirect, with the president elected by the electoral colleges elected on 15 October 1871. ^[1]

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Manuel Pardo	Civilista Party	2,706	69.35
	Antonio Arenas		1,196	30.65
	Manuel Toribio Ureta  [ es ]	Civilista Party
Total			3,902	100.00
Source: Mücke [3]

Aftermath

Following the elections, Congress was to meet in August to ratify the results. Outgoing president José Balta was overthrown on 22 July in a coup led by Tomás Gutiérrez aimed at preventing Pardo from taking office. Both Balta and Gutiérrez were killed four days later. Gutiérrez was succeeded as president by Francisco Diez Canseco, who was in office for only one day before being replaced by Mariano Herencia Zevallos, who served as interim president until Pardo took office on 2 August.

References

1. "Elections and Events 1870-1899". The Library. UC San Diego.
2. Madrid, Raúl L. (2025). The Birth of Democracy in South America. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN   978-1-009-63381-9.
3. Ulrich Mücke (2004). Political culture in nineteenth-century Peru: the rise of the Partido Civil. p. 112.