Voters in Peru headed to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president and members of Congress.

Sunday's election is taking place amid a spike in violent crime and corruption, and there is currently no clear favourite candidate among disgruntled voters.

A successful candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright and given the discontent among the electorate, it's highly likely there will be a runoff in June.

Voting stations opened at 7 a.m. local time (1200 GMT), with about ​27 million people eligible to vote.

Polls close at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT), with preliminary results from the country's election monitor expected soon after.

Some of those in contention

There are 35 names on the ballot, which includes Keiko Fujimori, a conservative former congresswoman and daughter of the late President Alberto Fujimori.

She has vowed to crack down on crime, but has also defended laws that experts say make it difficult to prosecute criminals.

Sunday marks her fourth bid for the presidency.

Rafael Lopez Aliaga — the conservative former mayor of Peru's capital Lima — is also in contention and has proposed building prisons in the Amazon region, allowing members of the judiciary to conceal their identities with the intention of shielding judges from criminal gangs.

He's also pushed for the expulsion of foreigners living in the country illegally.

Popular comedian Carlos Alvarez, is also campaigning on a tough anti-crime platform.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez