Which Candidate Do I Eliminate? The Use of Electoral Challenges in the Peruvian Subnational Elections

The electoral tacha is an appeal that any Peruvian citizen can file against any candidate in subnational, non-presidential, elections. This article identifies the profile of the candidacies that are relatively more affected by the tachas. More precisely, it analyzes the role of political factors in electoral competition -such as the configuration of the competition (number of candidates) and the electoral strength of the candidate. Through the econometric analysis, I show that, indeed, the tachas are more likely to affect the strongest candidacies. The results of this study suggest that the use of the tachas could be contributing to further compromising representation and increasing confrontation among Peruvian parties.