No. 370.
Mr. Buck
to Mr. Bayard.
Lima, Peru, April 24, 1886. (Received May 21.)
Sir: Under the election system in Peru officials are not chosen by direct vote, and the process of electing through the medium of electors who are selected by popular vote, extends from the President down to municipal officers.
First a sort of registration is made of voters, who, to exercise their franchise, must take out certificates. I have heretofore referred to the restriction placed upon suffrage under the constitution.
The popular voting under which electors are chosen extends through a week; for that time the tables, as they are called, are open for the reception of votes. The recent popular election extended from the 14th to the 21st of March, inclusive.
Afterwards the electors of the various districts convene to indicate their choice of national and local officers. This month conventions of electors, or meetings of electoral colleges, took place on the 14th and 15th instant, and resulted in the choice of General Andres A. Cáceres without opposition for President, and of Colonel Remigio Morales Bermúdez for First Vice-President, and of Señor Aurelio Denegré for Second Vice-President.
The senators chosen for Lima were General Casar Canevaro, Dr. Manuel Odriozola, and Don Manuel Candamo.
The senators from the next most important department, that of Arequipa, are Dr. Francisco Garcia Calderon, Don Luis Llosa, and Don Juan Manuel Diez Conoseco. * * *
I have, &c.,