MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sánchez narrowly ahead in Peru runoff quick count; both candidates urge caution

The result shifted through the night. Exit polls released as voting closed had initially placed Fujimori first, but the quick count reversed the trend

Peru's presidential runoff ended without a clear winner after an extremely close vote. A quick count by the pollster Ipsos, carried out with the NGO Transparencia on a representative sample of tally sheets, gave a slight edge to leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez, with 50.3% of the vote, against 49.7% for conservative Keiko Fujimori. The gap, within the margin of error, amounts to a technical tie that prolongs the uncertainty in a country that has had nine presidents in a decade.

The result shifted through the night. Exit polls released as voting closed had initially placed Fujimori first, but the quick count —which tends to anticipate the final result more precisely— reversed the trend. At the same time, the still-partial official count by the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) favored Fujimori, though the tally sheets processed came largely from Lima, one of her strongholds; the rural and Andean areas, where Sánchez performs best, remained to be counted.

Sánchez, of the Juntos por el Perú party, celebrated the lead before hundreds of supporters from a balcony in Plaza San Martín, in Lima's historic center. “This is the day of the recovery of democracy,” he said, though he later called for prudence and urged people to “defend the vote and electoral transparency.” A former minister and ally of ex-President Pedro Castillo —jailed over the 2022 self-coup— Sánchez has promised to pardon him and received the first results at the Barbadillo prison, alongside him. In the final stretch, he moderated his platform to ease fears among economic sectors in one of the world's largest copper exporters.

Fujimori, of Fuerza Popular, spoke with a serious demeanor from a Lima hotel and sought to cool her rival's optimism. “So far there is no winner in this contest. For that reason, it will be long days until we know. Every tally sheet needs to be counted,” she said. Unlike in previous elections, she did not allege fraud and said she would respect the outcome: “We will wait with great faith and respect the final results, whatever they are.” She also asked the international community to remain attentive. Her campaign, under the slogan “Fujimori returns, order returns,” centered on insecurity, Peruvians' main concern.

It is the fourth consecutive time Fujimori has reached a runoff, after narrow defeats in 2011, 2016 and 2021. The daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori —convicted of crimes against humanity and corruption, pardoned and deceased in 2024— she again faces the anti-fujimorista vote. The president of the National Jury of Elections, Roberto Burneo, described a normal process with isolated incidents, on a day marked by high abstention.

Electoral authorities warned that the official proclamation could take close to a month, until mid-July, because of challenges. The winner will take office on July 28, replacing interim President José María Balcázar. Both candidates pledged to respect the official results.