Elections in Peru: Keiko Fujimori Holds a 40,000 Vote Lead Over Sánchez

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori maintains a lead of 40,818 votes over leftist Roberto Sánchez as 99.69% of the votes from the presidential runoff in Peru have been counted, entering a week that could be crucial for determining the final results of the electoral process. The National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) reported that as of early Monday, Fujimori has received 50.11% of valid votes, while Sánchez has 49.88%. This means that the Fuerza Popular candidate has garnered 9,188,704 votes compared to 9,147,886 for the Juntos por el Perú candidate. The ONPE detailed that 287 voting records remain pending, out of a total of 92,766, which still need to be reviewed by special electoral juries (JEE) due to some challenges. With each record having a maximum of 300 voters, there are currently about 86,000 votes left to be counted, making this week potentially decisive for knowing the final election results or at least establishing a lead that would make Fujimori's advantage irreversible. Given the decreasing percentage of records left to count, Fujimori stated last Saturday that she would be able to declare herself the winner of the presidential elections in a few days, while Sánchez reiterated that the process 'is not over yet' and that he will request the annulment of votes cast by Peruvians abroad. 'Now we can say, and there are only a few days left, yes we could!' said the daughter and political heir of former President Alberto Fujimori during a meeting with her supporters in southern Lima, asserting that 'five years of great challenges are coming,' but she is confident that 'with God's blessing, hard work, and the unity of all Peruvians, we will move forward.' Sánchez, for his part, confirmed that he is placing his final hopes in a request for the total annulment of over 300,000 votes cast by Peruvians abroad, citing alleged irregularities in the custody chain of those voting records, which, if proven, could reverse the results. The leftist announced that he will request the annulment of those votes on Monday, despite electoral authorities having rejected a previous request last week to annul nearly 2,000 polling stations both in Lima and in cities abroad. Neither Sánchez nor his party criticized the authorities' decision before the vote not to send the results of the records from abroad digitally and to wait for them to arrive in Lima for counting, a change that major international electoral observation missions did not find to be a serious irregularity or evidence of fraud. The National Jury of Elections (JNE) has indicated that, at the latest, the election results will be proclaimed by mid-July, just days before the new head of state, elected to govern for the next five years (2026-2031), takes office on July 28, following a decade of political instability during which Peru has had eight presidents.