Over 5,000 polling stations fail to open in Peru's presidential runoff

Peru's presidential election runoff is facing significant disruption, with over 5,000 polling stations unable to open by midday on Sunday. The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) reported that 5,393 stations, or 5.9% of the total, had not yet been installed, apparently because poll workers failed to show up.

The election pits right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori against leftist Roberto Sánchez. A total of 90,223 polling stations were scheduled to operate nationwide. While 84,830 stations, about 94%, had begun their work, the remaining 5.98% remained inactive, preventing voters from casting their ballots.

Regions like Piura reported 438 pending stations, while Loreto had 334, Cajamarca 331, and Lima 255. Cusco had 132 stations yet to open, and Puno reported 188.

This electoral snag echoes problems from the first round of voting on April 12, which saw severe delays in Lima and some overseas locations, disenfranchising thousands. Authorities had to extend voting into the next day then. While the material distribution was blamed for the previous delays, leading to the resignation of the ONPE chief, the JNE stated this time that all materials reached their destinations.

To monitor the process, the JNE deployed 28,769 supervisors nationwide. Political parties also registered a significant number of representatives: Fuerza Popular, Fujimori's party, reported 35,331 poll watchers, while Juntos por el Perú, Sánchez's party, registered 23,796.