The subnational electoral process was officially underway. The President of the Republic, José Jerísummoned the Regional and Municipal Elections 2026which will take place on Sunday, October 4.
The call was made official through a Supreme Decree published this Wednesday, January 7 in the Legal Standards of the official newspaper El Peruano. The document establishes the formal start of the electoral process and specifies that the organization, execution and supervision of the elections will be in charge of the organizations that make up the Electoral System, in accordance with the Political Constitution of Peru and its organic laws.
“This call begins the process of Regional and Municipal Elections 2026. The organization, execution and supervision of the electoral process corresponds to the organizations that make up the Electoral System,” states the legal text, endorsed by President José Jeri and the President of the Council of Ministers, Ernesto Álvarez.
JNE approves the electoral schedule
After the presidential call, the National Elections Jury (JNE) approved the electoral schedule that will govern the entire process towards October. This document sets the deadlines and stages that must be met by political parties and regional movements that aspire to participate in the elections.
One of the first effects of the call is the activation of the maximum deadline for the registration of political organizations before the JNE. This first filter will be decisive, since it will define which regional parties and movements are enabled to compete and which will be left out of the race from the initial stage.
When are the primaries in the regional and municipal elections?
The 2026 Regional and Municipal Elections contemplate the mandatory holding of primary elections to define candidates. Within this framework, the schedule establishes two fundamental prior milestones:
February 16: deadline for political organizations to communicate to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) the type of primaries they will use.
April 7: closing of the electoral roll, by Reniec, which will define who will be eligible to vote in October.
The Primary elections will be held on May 17 and 24depending on the modality chosen by each political group. The results may be officially announced until June 1, marking the closing of this internal stage.
