Peru is still waiting to learn who its next president will be. Following Sunday’s runoff election, votes are still being counted and preliminary results remain inconclusive, with right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and left-wing contender Roberto Sánchez effectively locked in a technical tie.

As of Monday morning, 93% of ballots had been counted. Fujimori held a narrow lead with 50% of the vote, while Sánchez trailed closely with 49.9%, leaving less than a percentage point between them.

The runoff took place amid deep political polarization, pitting two candidates from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum against each other in a race that could shape Peru’s political direction for years to come.

Who are the candidates

Roberto Sánchez Palomino was minister of foreign trade and tourism during the administration of former President Pedro Castillo, who remained in power for only 17 months (2021-2022). 

Sánchez, currently a congressman, is part of the ex-leader’s left-wing party Juntos por el Perú (Together for Peru).

Keiko Fujimori leads the conservative Fuerza Popular (Popular Force) party. She is the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000 and was later imprisoned for human rights violations. 

Fujimori has consistently defended her father’s legacy and maintained that he was innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted.

The result of Peru’s election will define one of two distinctive possible paths for the country.

If Sánchez wins, he has promised that he will carry on the same platform as former president Castillo, centered around economic development with a focus on the national industry, job creation, and progressive taxes.

A victory for Fujimori, who is running for president for the fourth time, would mean a return to more right-wing social and economic policies, similar to the ones championed by her father.

Political crisis

Peru has been mired in a prolonged political crisis that has seen the country go through nine presidents in the past decade. 

Several resigned amid political turmoil, while others were impeached and removed from office by Congress over corruption allegations and other scandals.

The last president elected at the ballot box was Pedro Castillo, who took office in July 2021. His presidency ended in December 2022 after Congress removed him from office following accusations that he had attempted to dissolve the legislature and rule by decree. 

He was later sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Since Castillo’s ouster, Peru has had three more presidents. One was former Vice President Dina Boluarte, who succeeded him under constitutional succession rules. The other two were congressional leaders elevated to the presidency by lawmakers. 

The current president is José María Balcázar, who was ineligible to run in this election because Peruvian law requires presidents to complete a full five-year term before seeking re-election.

Electoral fraud

The first round of the elections in Peru took place on April 12 and the vote count took over a month due to irregularities in the tallies, leading the then head of the National Office of Voting Processes to resign on April 22. 

This time round, despite concerns raised during the vote, the counting process appeared to be proceeding normally as election authorities continued tallying ballots on Sunday night.

Roberto Burneo, head of the National Elections Jury, firmly rejected allegations of electoral fraud after Peru’s ombudsman office reported that some ballots had been found with markings made before being handed to voters.

Burneo said the reported incidents were being investigated and handled through the appropriate channels. He also urged citizens and political organizations to “remain calm” and “act with democratic responsibility,” in an apparent reference to both the fraud allegations and unofficial surveys released after polls closed.

“Official results will be released progressively through the corresponding institutional channels,” Burneo said. “No fraud has been committed. Everything has been carried out properly.”