Conservative Keiko Fujimori closed the gap between her and leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez as the count of votes cast abroad progressed, keeping the fight for the Presidency of Peru fierce. On the afternoon of this Wednesday (10), the advantage between the two was just 7 thousand votes.
With 97.8% of ballot boxes processed, Roberto Sánchez registered 50.020% of the votes, while Keiko Fujimori appeared with 49.980%, according to data from Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE). Vote counting began on Sunday, the day of the second round, and the definitive result could still take weeks to be made official.
Fujimori had led the exit polls and the first results of the count, but Sánchez advanced as votes from the country’s rural regions entered the count. On Tuesday night, the left-wing candidate had a lead of 40,000 votes.
This difference decreased again with the inclusion of minutes from abroad, which benefit the conservator. Among Peruvians who voted in other countries, Keiko Fujimori registered 63.368% of the votes against 36.632% for Roberto Sánchez, with 83.6% of the ballots counted.
In Peruvian elections, votes from abroad do not arrive electronically from consulates. The minutes must be physically taken by diplomatic bag to the counting centers in Lima, which explains the delay in processing these votes.
In the previous election, in 2021, Fujimori achieved an advantage of 100 thousand votes abroad. Still, she lost to Pedro Castillo, who had strong support in rural areas. At the time, Castillo won by a minimal margin: 50.125% to 49.875%.
This time, Keiko Fujimori’s performance abroad was slightly below that recorded five years ago. In the United States, for example, she had obtained 81% of the votes in the last contest. As of Wednesday afternoon, the percentage was 76.559% with 95.8% of the minutes from that country accounted for.
Likewise, Roberto Sánchez’s Together for Peru did not achieve the expected break in some rural regions, where the left traditionally predominates. The situation remains without a clear definition.
Fujimori told reporters on Tuesday that “there is a lot of hope”, especially in the votes from abroad and in the minutes that will still be reviewed — most of them from the metropolitan region of Lima, which tends to favor the conservative. “I think it would be premature to declare a winner,” she said.
Sánchez’s party also asked for patience until all the votes were totaled, highlighting that the polls still pending in rural areas represented the possibility of victory for the left-wing candidate.
Candidates for President of Peru
Roberto Sánchez defends the reform of the Constitution, the institution of extraordinary taxes on profits, a tax on large fortunes and changes to mining concessions, in addition to proposals that are popular among voters in rural areas of the country.
He presents himself as the “Castilista presidential candidate” and seeks to rehabilitate and free former president Pedro Castillo, who governed between 2021 and 2022 and is currently serving a sentence for conspiracy to rebel after an attempted coup.
Sánchez faces Keiko Fujimori, who is running for President for the fourth time in the Peruvian elections.
Keiko is betting on the history of combating crime left by her father, Alberto Fujimori, a former president imprisoned for human rights violations linked to massacres during his term.