As Peru’s post-general election vote counting stretched into its third day on Tuesday, political tensions have surged across the Andean nation, sparking parliamentary investigations and unsubstantiated claims of widespread electoral fraud. With roughly 80% of ballots now counted, the identity of the candidate that will face conservative frontrunner Keiko Fujimori in the June 7 presidential runoff remains uncertain.
Fujimori, a former congresswoman and daughter of late former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, currently holds a narrow lead in official vote tallies with 16.8% of the vote. No candidate has secured the 50% of support required for an outright first-round victory, meaning Fujimori – who is making her fourth bid for the country’s highest office – is all but guaranteed a spot in the second round of voting.
A tight and shifting race for second place has unfolded behind the frontrunner, according to data from Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), the country’s independent electoral authority. Right-wing former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga sits in second position with roughly 12% of the vote, just a single percentage point ahead of center-left candidate Jorge Nieto, who holds 11%. Left-wing congressman Roberto Sanchez trails closely in fourth place with just over 10% of counted ballots.
As the slow counting process drags on, accusations of electoral fraud have grown louder from trailing candidates. Lopez Aliaga has already publicly decried what he calls “brutal fraud”, and he earned public backing from Sanchez on Tuesday, who also raised questions about the integrity of the voting process. Neither candidate has presented concrete evidence to support their fraud claims to date.
Critics have drawn parallels between the current slow counting process and previous elections in the copper-rich South American nation, recalling that former president Pedro Castillo was not officially confirmed as the winner until eight days after the 2021 second round vote.
European Union electoral observers, who monitored Sunday’s first round vote, have acknowledged significant logistical issues during the electoral process but found no concrete evidence to support the widespread fraud claims that have circulated since polling opened. “There have been clear problems,” said Annalisa Corrado, head of the EU’s electoral observation mission to Peru. “But we have not found objective elements that support the narrative of fraud.”
The extended counting period follows major logistical disruptions to ballot distribution on polling day Sunday. The issues forced election officials to extend voting hours into Monday for more than 50,000 eligible voters, concentrated mostly in parts of Lima, the national capital that is home to roughly one-third of Peru’s total electorate.
ONPE head Piero Corvetto was summoned before Peru’s parliament this week to explain the delays to the vote counting process. He denied that serious irregularities had taken place, framing the distribution issues as an isolated error in the rollout of electoral materials. Corvetto also issued a public apology for the disruptions to voting and counting.
He emphasized that both the presidential and parliamentary elections presented unprecedented challenges for voters and electoral officials alike, particularly amid years of sustained political unrest that has eroded public trust in national institutions and left many voters disillusioned with the political class.
Long-running political instability remains one of the most pressing issues facing Peru, regardless of the final election outcome. The country has seen multiple presidents turnover in recent years, creating widespread skepticism that any new administration will be able to complete a full five-year term. Repeat impeachments, high-profile corruption scandals, and fragile legislative coalitions have made it nearly impossible for recent administrations to serve out their full terms.
The current interim president, José Balcázar, was appointed by parliament in February after legislators removed his predecessor José Dina from office. Dina had served only four months in office before being ousted over a scandal involving secret meetings with a Chinese business executive.
