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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Elections & Politics

Keiko Fujimori counts on foreign votes and challenged ballots to win runoff

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Keiko Fujimori expresses hope that foreign votes and challenged ballots will secure her victory in Peru's presidential runoff.
  • The race against left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez is extremely close, with a technical tie reported.
  • Fujimori urged caution and awaits the final decision from electoral bodies, downplaying isolated incidents during the election.

Lima, Peru – Presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori of the right-wing Popular Force party remains hopeful that votes cast abroad and the resolution of contested ballots will tip the scales in her favor in Peru's extremely tight presidential runoff election. The race against left-wing contender Roberto Sánchez is neck-and-neck, with electoral authorities reporting a technical tie.

Speaking to reporters outside her residence, Fujimori urged prudence and patience, emphasizing the need to await the final verdict from electoral bodies. Her campaign team believes that pending ballots and overseas votes, largely from Lima Metropolitan districts where Fujimori holds a significant advantage, are key to a potential comeback. In the capital, Fujimori's candidacy performed strongly against Sánchez, who represents Juntos por el Perú following the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo.

is very tight

— Keiko FujimoriFujimori describes the extremely close nature of the presidential race.

Fujimori stressed the narrow margin between the two political projects, reiterating that the results constitute an absolute technical tie. She questioned Sánchez's premature declaration of victory based on projections and quick counts, which showed him leading by approximately one percentage point. "It would be very premature to declare a winner at this moment," Fujimori stated, requesting "more measured" statements from her opponent.

It would be very premature to declare a winner at this moment

— Keiko FujimoriFujimori cautions against premature declarations of victory by her opponent.

Regarding reports of pre-marked ballots found in Lima and other electoral irregularities in the Puno region, Fujimori dismissed them as "isolated incidents that in no way disturbed the process." She affirmed an open institutional stance for post-election dialogue with Sánchez and other parties represented in Congress.

As of the latest report from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), with 95.9% of ballots counted, Sánchez has secured 50.056% of valid votes (8,910,295), while Fujimori has 49.944% (8,890,401). The difference stands at a mere 19,894 votes, or 0.112 percentage points, with approximately 1,124,700 ballots yet to be processed.

isolated incidents that in no way disturbed the process

— Keiko FujimoriFujimori downplays reports of electoral irregularities during the voting.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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