LIMA – A recent survey reveals that Peru’s presidential race has become a statistical tie between right-wing contender Keiko Fujimori and leftist candidate Roberto Sanchez as the country continues tallying votes from its April 12 primary election.
According to polling company Ipsos Peru, both Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, and Sanchez would each capture 38% support in the scheduled June 7 runoff election. This marks the first polling data released since the initial voting round took place.
The extended vote counting process has prompted accusations of electoral misconduct from ultra-conservative candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who currently sits approximately 24,000 votes behind Sanchez in the competition for the second runoff position. This margin has continued to expand over recent days.
Lopez Aliaga has called for the cancellation of thousands of ballots, claiming they represent fraudulent votes. However, European Union election monitors have stated they discovered no supporting evidence for these allegations.
Current tallies with 95.8% of ballots processed show Fujimori maintaining the lead at 17%, followed by Sanchez at 12% and Lopez Aliaga at 11.9%.
The same poll indicates that should Fujimori face Lopez Aliaga in the runoff instead of Sanchez, she would trail by a margin of 31% to 34%.
On Friday, the Organization of American States endorsed the electoral board’s decision to reject calls for additional elections, urging “unrestricted respect for the popular will.”
Sanchez previously held a ministerial position under former President Pedro Castillo, who is currently imprisoned.
