Keiko Fujimori, Roberto Sánchez advance to Peru presidential runoff
by Macarena Hermosilla · UPIMay 15 (UPI) -- Peru's National Office of Electoral Processes finalized the official vote count Friday after 33 days of scrutiny and legal challenges, confirming that right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez will compete in a presidential runoff June 7.
The final tally of the mid-April voting placed Fujimori first with 17.18% of valid votes.
The main battle centered on second place, where Sánchez secured 12.03% and narrowly overtook conservative candidate Rafael López Aliaga, who finished third with 11.90%, trailing by just 21,210 votes.
"The race for the runoff produced a scenario similar to 2021, with a contest between the left and the right," electoral law expert José Tello told RPP Noticias.
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The dispute over second place shifted dramatically as vote counting progressed in Peru's remote regions. Early results favored López Aliaga, whose strongest support came from Lima, the capital and largest urban voting bloc.
However, after more than 90% of ballots had been processed, returns from rural and highland regions in southern Peru boosted Sánchez's candidacy, repeating voting patterns seen in the 2021 election, when then-little-known rural teacher Pedro Castillo advanced to the runoff and later won the presidency.
The final outcome depended on Peru's Special Electoral Juries, which reviewed 653 disputed and challenged voting records before electoral authorities could release the definitive results.
After the official figures were announced, López Aliaga led a protest outside the headquarters of Peru's National Jury of Elections, rejecting the outcome, alleging fraud and demanding an international audit, according to Diario Gestión.
With the official count completed, Peru's National Jury of Elections is expected to formally certify the runoff candidates Sunday ahead of the second-round vote that will determine who governs the country for the 2026-2031 constitutional term.