Democracy needs information, not silences. A project, discussed in the Constitution Commission of the Congress, proposes to reduce the time prior to elections in Peru in one week in which the prohibition of the dissemination of surveys governs.
Currently, article 191 of the Organic Law of Elections sanctions the violation of that veto with a fine of between ten and one hundred tax tax units (UIT), which is currently S/5,350.
In the exposure of reasons for the initiative, formulated on May 22 by the legislator Ed Malaga, it is indicated that maintaining the prohibition of a week “constitutes a significant affectation to the constitutional right to freedom of information”, since “it prevents the citizen from accessing strategic information in a critical stage of decision, limiting their autonomy as a voter and denaturing the deliberative sense of a democratic electoral campaign”.
In addition, the document adds, “it generates scenarios of misinformation, uncertainty and clandestine circulation of unsectified surveys.” This will be aggravated with the excessive number of candidates that are expected for the presidential and parliamentary LID of April 2026, which is calculated in more than 10,000.
According to the World Economic Forum, misinformation occupies the first place in the global risk ranking in the world. In addition, according to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Fake News shared 70% more than true news. All this is dangerously related to the use of social networks, especially in young people, such as the main source of information. Next year, more than 2.5 million young people will exercise their right to suffrage for the first time.
Obsolete norm
The law, as it is today, is completely obsolete. That concluded the Director of Ipsos Opinion Studies, Guillermo Loli, and the constitutionalist lawyer Milagros Campos, in conversation with conversation Peru21.
Of course, if in Latin America countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Colombia allow the dissemination of surveys up to 72 or 24 hours before the electoral day. In Spain, the ban is five days before the elections, while in France and Canada it is only one day, as it is raised for Peru. Meanwhile, in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom there is no restriction.
Loli argued that the prohibition of survey dissemination should have the same treatment as the veto for electoral advertising and public demonstrations. In the case of propaganda, according to the Organic Law of Elections, it is suspended 24 hours before the election. For their part, public meetings or manifestations of a political nature, such as rallies or caravans, are prohibited from two days before the date of the elections.
“There are a lot of people who do not find out about trends in Veda week, which seems discriminatory to me in some way. We must also take into account that more than 20% of the citizens decide the last day for whom they will vote, which is unfortunate. These people are more exposed to the amount of misinformation that there will be on social networks,” he said.
In the same sense, Milagros Campos remarked that the “norm, as it is, is obsolete because you cannot control the information of social networks, which deprives yourself of reliable information that would allow you to have an informed decision.”
He insisted that passing the normative change will help citizens have equal access to information, in order to exercise a right to conscious vote, and with all the tools to decide well.
“Consolidated democracies substantially reduce the veto term, allowing their voting citizens to make their decision with all available information,” he explained.
Like Loli, he recalled that the current law exposes voters to possible false news or manipulation of information, which, with a level of political fragment as high as the one that exists in Peru, could direct an election.
The amendment of this rule, just like the one that changes the dry law, is on the Congress court.
Receive your Peru21 by email or by WhatsApp. Subscribe to our enriched digital newspaper. Take advantage of discounts here.
Recommended video:
