Keiko Fujimori, right-wing candidate for president of Peru, established a lead considered irreversible in the final count of the second electoral round. This projection indicates that she will be the Andean country’s next head of state.
The right-wing politician contested the election against Roberto Sánchez, representative of the left, in a second round held at the beginning of June. The vote counting process, known for its slowness and which can last more than a month, revealed a deep national polarization, with the margin between candidates reaching just 0.1 percentage points. The intense polarization and accusations of irregularities reflect a complex legacy in Peruvian politics, often associated with the political history of the Fujimori family.
However, last Tuesday night, the 23rd, candidate Fujimori managed to increase her lead. The numerical difference in votes between her and her opponent became greater than the total number of ballots remaining to be verified.
According to the most recent update of the count, released on the morning of Wednesday, 24th, Fujimori accumulated 9,206,241 votes, while Sánchez registered 9,162,855. With 99.859% of the ballot boxes verified, approximately 40,000 votes were still awaiting counting.
Peruvian media outlets indicate that Keiko Fujimori will be proclaimed the new president of Peru this Wednesday, despite Roberto Sánchez’s refusal to accept the official result.
Analysis shows that, even if Sánchez obtained all the remaining votes, Keiko Fujimori would maintain his leadership position.
Roberto Sánchez questions the result of the presidential vote
Roberto Sánchez, the presidential candidate for the left in Peru, declared on Tuesday, 23, that he will not accept the outcome of the second electoral round, whose partial count signals the victory of his competitor, Keiko Fujimori.
During a press conference, Sánchez alleged the existence of “ongoing fraud” in the vote counting process and mobilized his supporters to participate in new demonstrations scheduled for Saturday, the 27th.
“We believe that the vote was manipulated. We will not recognize Fujimori’s government,” said Sánchez, directing accusations of irregularities against ONPE, the Peruvian electoral body, and Fujimori’s campaign, especially in relation to votes coming from abroad.
Election authorities have been reviewing questioned ballots from the second round, which took place on June 7, for more than two weeks.
Initially, Roberto Sánchez, a member of the Juntos por el Perú party, led the investigation for several days. However, Keiko Fujimori, from Fuerza Popular, resumed the lead, driven by the votes of Peruvian voters living outside the country.
Abroad, the candidate obtained 63.206% of the votes, while in Peruvian territory, Sánchez registered a slight advantage with 50.113%, according to an update released on Tuesday.
On Monday, the 22nd, the left-wing competitor formalized a new request, seeking to annul the votes of Peruvian citizens residing outside national borders.
Sánchez points out alleged administrative failures and problems in the administration of voting ballots by the electoral body during the election abroad. These votes, which total around 300 thousand, would have largely benefited Keiko Fujimori. According to the candidate, the exclusion of votes from abroad would result in an advantage of approximately 25 thousand votes for him over his opponent.
Experts in electoral law, consulted by the local newspaper El Comercio, maintain that the appeal presented has no legal basis and merely serves to postpone the official proclamation of the results of the election.
Juntos por el Perú, Roberto Sánchez’s party, secured the second largest representation in Congress, with 32 of the 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 14 of the 60 in the Senate.
In turn, Keiko Fujimori’s party will form the largest group, with 22 seats in the Senate and 41 in the Chamber of Deputies, and declared that it will await the complete completion of the count to formalize its claim to victory.