Peru reviews contested votes; counting continues with Fujimori ahead

The JNE (Peruvian National Elections Jury) began this Thursday (11) to review the contested ballots in the presidential election. Meanwhile, the counting continues: with more than 98% of the minutes counted, the conservative Keiko Fujimori has a slight advantage over the left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez.

Fujimori regained the lead on Wednesday night, driven by votes abroad. On Thursday night, she had 50.003% against Sánchez's 49.997%, according to ONPE (Peru's National Office of Electoral Processes). The difference was just over a thousand votes in a universe of 18 million voters.

Most of the remaining votes correspond to contested ballots. Only nine of the more than 90,000 polling stations have not yet had their votes counted, while around 1,600 minutes, corresponding to 400,000 votes, have been forwarded to the JNE for analysis.

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The review is expected to take weeks. Most of the contested ballots come from the metropolitan region of Lima, Fujimori's main electoral stronghold.

This is because the electoral process in the country is complex, which makes it difficult to announce the result, especially in such a disputed election.

ONPE organizes the electoral process, taking care of election sessions, voter registration and logistical issues, in addition to being responsible for the initial count.

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Next, there are minutes that can be sent to the JEE (Special Electoral Jury), which works only during the election period and resolves local appeals and controversies. Finally, it is still necessary for another body to validate the results: the National Elections Jury.

Candidates are practically tied in every count
Markets largely recovered from the losses recorded on Friday, when Sanchez, who promised to reform the Peruvian economy heavily dependent on mining, gained strength in the polls. The main Peruvian stock index closed up 3.94% this Thursday, while the Peruvian sol advanced 0.56% against the dollar, to 3.39 per dollar.

The two candidates remained practically tied throughout the counting. Fujimori was leading the exit polls, and started the count slightly ahead. On Monday, Sánchez took the lead, driven by votes in rural areas, but the game turned in favor of Fujimori again with the counting of votes abroad.

Both asked for calm and patience during the investigation. However, Sanchez toughened his speech on Wednesday and called for a meeting with international observers to discuss "strange, unusual and questionable events."

This Thursday, Sánchez said he had held important meetings with observers from the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS). "Our people are vigilant. Voting and democracy must be respected", he wrote when announcing the meetings.

In addition to the contested ballots, Sánchez's team filed suit to annul votes from 1,750 polling stations in Peru, mainly in the Lima region, alleging irregularities, in addition to votes from 657 polling stations in the United States, alleging that they had been "transported irregularly".

In a press conference this Thursday afternoon, Peru's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Pareja, stated that there were no irregularities in votes from abroad and that international observers concluded that Sunday's election took place without significant problems.

This is Keiko Fujimori's fourth consecutive second round contest. She lost the last two presidential elections by razor-thin margins. In 2021, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, a polarizing figure in Peruvian politics, was defeated by then candidate Pedro Castillo by around 45 thousand votes.

Sanchez, who was a minister in the Castillo government, is considered his political heir in this election.

During the campaign, he adopted the same cowboy hat characteristic of Castillo and awaited the first results outside the prison where the former president is serving a sentence for rebellion and conspiracy after an attempted coup.

Speaking to journalists in front of his residence this Thursday, Fujimori reiterated that he will wait for the final result to be announced before making any definitive statement about the dispute.

Fujimori, who raised accusations of fraud in the 2021 election, stated that the 2026 election was conducted in a transparent manner, with thousands of inspectors from both parties and the presence of international observers.

"I think this gives the election credibility, tranquility and the confidence of citizens", declared Fujimori.

Who is Keiko Fujimori, candidate for president of Peru

Source: CNN