Peru Election: Sánchez Holds Narrow Lead Over Fujimori with 95% of Votes Counted

Leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez maintains a slim 0.25 percentage point lead over right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori as 95% of votes are tallied in Peru's presidential election. The National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) reported that Sánchez has secured 50.126% of the vote, while Fujimori trails with 49.874%.

This translates to a difference of 44,522 votes in favor of Sánchez, who has garnered 8,878,371 votes compared to his rival's 8,833,849. The close results indicate the election will be decided vote by vote, with 3,042 ballots remaining to be counted, many of them from overseas.

Further complicating the count are 1,518 ballots pending review by special electoral juries due to challenges or observations. These will require resolution before a final decision can be made, potentially by the National Jury of Elections. The Peruvian Foreign Ministry expects all ballots from Peruvians abroad to arrive by Wednesday.

Technical parity between the candidates was anticipated Sunday night by polling firms. While initial exit polls favored Fujimori, official counts and subsequent projections showed Sánchez with a slight advantage. Independent analyses, such as one by Ipsos for Civil Transparency with a 1.9% margin of error, gave Sánchez 50.3% to Fujimori's 49.7%. Datum Internacional reported a similar outcome, with Sánchez at 50.14% and Fujimori at 49.86%.