MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru's electoral board rejects 23 more appeals by Sánchez's party as Fujimori's win holds

With 99.88% of the tally sheets processed, Fujimori obtains 50.12% of valid votes against Sánchez's 49.88%, a difference of some 44,453 ballots, the largest recorded during the count

The plenary of Peru's National Jury of Elections (JNE) declared unfounded 23 appeals filed by Juntos por el Perú, the party of left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez, against tally sheets from the presidential runoff, in which right-wing Keiko Fujimori is set to emerge as the winner. The decision shores up a result that, with the count almost complete, can no longer be reversed.

The rejected appeals concerned tally sheets observed in Santiago de Chile, New Jersey (United States) and the Peruvian constituencies of Huancavelica, Ucayali and the Lima district of Ate. They add to an earlier batch in which the JNE had declared unfounded another 24 appeals from the same group. Before that, the Special Electoral Jury of Lima Centro 2 had rejected as inadmissible Sánchez's request to annul the overseas vote —for being filed outside the legal deadline— the appeal with which the result could have been reversed in his favor.

With 99.88% of the tally sheets processed, Fujimori obtains 50.12% of valid votes against Sánchez's 49.88%, a difference of some 44,453 ballots, the largest recorded during the count. The daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) has not yet been proclaimed president-elect: the JNE reported that the official proclamation will take place between July 3 and 7, once the observed tally sheets and pending appeals are resolved. If confirmed, Fujimori would take office on July 28, for the 2026-2031 term.

Sánchez has alleged, without presenting evidence, a supposed “fraud in progress” in the overseas vote and announced that he will not recognize a possible Fujimori government if his nullity request is not addressed, while also calling for protests. Authorities and electoral observers have contradicted those objections. The civic organization Transparencia “categorically” rejected the fraud accusations without evidence and said its observation in more than ten cities abroad “found no situation that compromises the integrity” of the day. The JNE, for its part, said it would continue with its schedule despite an injunction filed to suspend the proclamation, recalling that it is the body with the final word on electoral matters.

From Fuerza Popular, the candidate for first vice president, Luis Galarreta, called Sánchez's stance “antidemocratic” and asked the authorities to act quickly to release the definitive count. Fujimori, who has kept a cautious profile and has not declared herself the winner, said this week that “it is important that in the coming days we can finally have the proclamation from the electoral bodies.” The June 7 runoff was one of the closest in the country's recent history.