Peru Holds Presidential Run-Off Between Fujimori and Sanchez on June 7

Peruvians return to the polls on Sunday, June 7, to choose between right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez in the presidential run-off. The first round on April 12 featured a record 35 candidates. Ballots arrived late at multiple sites, opening hours behind schedule and leaving roughly 52,000 voters unable to cast ballots on time.

Election authorities extended voting in affected areas, including Lima and overseas locations such as Paterson, New Jersey.

Fujimori received 17 percent of the vote, or 2,877,678 ballots. Sanchez placed second with 12 percent, or 2,015,114 ballots. Rafael Lopez Aliaga finished third with 11.9 percent, or 1,993,905 ballots, a margin of about 21,200 votes behind Sanchez. Lopez Aliaga denounced the outcome as fraudulent.

Election monitors found no evidence of wrongdoing. The head of the National Office of Electoral Processes resigned after the prolonged count, though he denied any misconduct.

Fujimori, president of the Popular

Force party and former first lady, has reached the final round in four consecutive presidential elections. She has campaigned on the slogan “Peru with order” and proposed a 60-day state of emergency to address citizen insecurity. Sanchez, a Congress member representing Lima since 2021 and former foreign trade and tourism minister, ran for the Together for Peru movement.

Prosecutors have charged him with falsifying campaign finance disclosures; he denies the accusations. More than 7.16 million of 27 million eligible voters abstained in the first round. Over 11.7 percent of ballots cast were blank and another 5 percent were spoiled.

Peru has installed 2,506 polling stations in 63 countries for Sunday’s vote, including for the 411,077 citizens who voted abroad in April.