Recent polling data from Peru shows a tight race developing as the country approaches its presidential runoff election scheduled for June 7.
Two separate surveys indicate that right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori maintains a modest advantage over her leftist opponent Roberto Sanchez, though the margin remains within striking distance.
The Ipsos survey, conducted between May 29-30 and featured in Peru 21 newspaper, projects Fujimori will capture 38% of voter support compared to Sanchez’s 35%. Meanwhile, a second poll by Datum Internacional, spanning May 26-30 and published in El Comercio, shows similar results with Fujimori at 39.8% and Sanchez at 35.9%.
Notably, Fujimori’s support dropped by one percentage point from the previous Ipsos survey, while Sanchez held steady. Perhaps most significantly, the portion of voters indicating they plan to abstain or submit invalid ballots grew to 27%.
“The big question in the final week is what undecided voters or those who say they plan to cast a blank or invalid ballot will do,” said Alfredo Torres, CEO of Ipsos. “The logic of choosing the lesser evil will ultimately determine who will be president of Peru for the 2026-2031 term.”
Fujimori, daughter of late former President Alberto Fujimori and making her fourth presidential bid, emerged from the April 12 first round with 17% of the vote. Sanchez, who maintains ties to imprisoned former leftist President Pedro Castillo, secured his runoff position with 12% support.
The candidates are set to participate in a debate scheduled for later Sunday.
The Ipsos poll carries a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points, while the Datum Internacional survey has a 2.5 percentage point margin of error.
