Peru’s Presidential Election Update
On Thursday morning, Keiko Fujimori, representing the conservative side, edged ahead of radical leftist Roberto Herberto Sánchez Palomino in the closely contested presidential run-off in Peru. Election officials are currently focused on the final vote counting, which will ultimately determine the election outcome.
As of Thursday afternoon, Fujimori had secured 922 votes, maintaining a slight advantage over Sánchez.
The situation in Peru remains tense, with slow progress in vote counting following Sunday’s election between Fujimori and Sánchez. According to the National Elections Office (ONPE), 98.23 percent of votes had been counted by Thursday’s press time.
Initially, Fujimori’s party, People Power, held a slim lead, but in the days following the election, candidates from the far-left coalition “Together for Peru” managed to briefly overtake him.
However, Fujimori regained the lead early Thursday when the last batch of foreign voting minutes arrived from over 2,500 polling stations set up across about 70 countries. This shipment included votes from Argentina, which represented around 32,000 ballots.
Recent reports indicate that opinion polls show strong support for Fujimori among the Peruvian diaspora. As of Thursday morning, ONPE had counted approximately 94.5% of foreign votes, with Fujimori garnering an impressive 63.4% and Sánchez receiving 36.5%. Notably, Fujimori achieved over 76% of the votes in the United States and nearly 90% among Peruvians in Japan.
An unnamed source from Fujimori’s party confirmed these findings, noting that the foreign voting results led to a pivotal moment, often referred to as “D-Day.” Depending on these outcomes, Fujimori could either extend his lead or significantly reduce the gap with Sánchez.
Sánchez, who had taken the lead earlier in the week, initially stated he would respect the election results. Yet, he later appeared noncommittal when responding to similar inquiries from reporters, suggesting that some individuals might aim to undermine the democratic process.
The election, characterized by its narrow margins, is pending the review of 1,635 votes that are under examination by the Special Elections Committee. This represents about 1.784 percent of the total votes. Additionally, ONPE indicated there are 20 more tallies that had yet to be finalized at the time of reporting.
Silvia Guevara, a political consultant in Peru, explained that a vote recount occurs only when the committee cannot correct identified errors in the flagged vote tallies, emphasizing that recounts serve to safeguard the votes recorded.
Fujimori, seeking his fourth presidential term after narrowly losing three previous elections, urged reporters to remain calm and patient as the results unfold. He stressed that “facts trump stories,” and emphasized the importance of the official records rather than any statements made by Sánchez.
Fujimori stated, “The will of the people must be respected. It is the state agency that makes the decisions.”
