Peru’s Fuerza Popular party’s Keiko Fujimori reacts after casting her vote in Lima on April 12. She now awaits finding out who her opponent will be in the June 7 presidential runoff. Photo by Renato Pajuelo/EPA
Peru’s National Jury of Elections, known as Jurado Nacional de Elecciones, said the candidate who will face Keiko Fujimori in the presidential runoff will not be known until mid-May, as authorities review thousands of contested vote tallies from the April 13 election.
With 94.1% of votes counted, Fujimori leads with 17.05%. The race for second place remains extremely tight between leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez, who has 12.01%, and far-right contender Rafael López Aliaga, with 11.98%.
Although voting concluded last week, the final count has been delayed by errors, omissions and legal challenges that affect thousands of tally sheets that must be examined individually by regional electoral panels.
The jury’s secretary-general, Yessica Clavijo, said a recount of about 100 tally sheets will begin Monday in a public virtual session. She told RPP Noticias authorities expect to complete the presidential vote count by the second week of May.
More than 15,000 tally sheets from the general election have been flagged for review, Clavijo said. About 30% correspond to the presidential race, meaning over 5,000 records were sent to special electoral juries due to errors or missing information.
For the first time, Peru’s electoral system will use physical ballot recounts to resolve discrepancies. In previous elections, ballots were destroyed after the initial count at polling stations, and unresolved inconsistencies between official records from the Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales and the JNE led to annulment of the affected tally sheets.
The election results unfold amid criticism of electoral authorities over alleged deficiencies in the chain of custody and delays in distributing voting materials. These logistical issues caused unprecedented delays in the opening of polling stations, particularly in metropolitan Lima and some overseas jurisdictions.
Once results are certified in May, the top two candidates will advance to a runoff June 7.
