MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Keiko Fujimori wins Peru's presidency as the full count confirms her by 49,641 votes

With the count closed, Fujimori is the president-elect, though the official proclamation falls to the National Jury of Elections (JNE), scheduled for Friday, July 3

Peru's National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) on Monday closed the count of the presidential runoff at 100% of the tally sheets and confirmed the victory of right-wing Keiko Fujimori over left-wing Roberto Sánchez, 22 days after the June 7 vote. The Fuerza Popular leader obtained 50.14% of valid votes against her rival's 49.87%, a difference of 49,641 ballots, in one of the closest elections in the country's recent history.

With the count closed, Fujimori is the president-elect, though the official proclamation falls to the National Jury of Elections (JNE), scheduled for Friday, July 3. Credentials will be handed over on July 15 and the inauguration will take place on July 28, for the 2026-2031 term. “The ONPE has reached 100% of the tally sheets counted. We await the JNE's proclamation with great humility, prudence and responsibility,” Fujimori wrote on the social network X.

The win carries strong symbolic weight. Fujimori, 51, reaches the presidency on her fourth attempt, after losing by margins of less than 1% in the runoffs of 2011, 2016 and 2021, against Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Pedro Castillo, respectively. She will also be the first woman elected to the post by popular vote —Dina Boluarte held it through constitutional succession— and marks the return of fujimorismo to power 25 years after the fall of her father, former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who was convicted of crimes against humanity and corruption and died in 2024.

The result reflects a divided country. Fujimori did not win within Peruvian territory, where Sánchez prevailed by some 32,000 votes; the comeback came thanks to the vote of Peruvians abroad, who gave her a lead of around 81,000 votes. She won in nine of the country's 25 regions. “We receive this result knowing that our country is practically divided and we have the great responsibility of listening to both sides,” she said. Although Fuerza Popular will have the largest bloc, she will have to build bridges with the regions that backed Sánchez, especially in the southern highlands.

The overseas vote has become Sánchez's main argument for not recognizing his defeat. The candidate alleges, without presenting evidence, an alleged fraud because the consular tally sheets were not digitized before being sent physically, called protests —the last, on Saturday, with little response— and announced an injunction and a possible appeal to the inter-American human rights system. Last week, the JNE had declared unfounded all the appeals by Juntos por el Perú, which sought to annul more than 2,300 polling tables abroad. Fujimori's victory falls within the region's shift to the right: she was congratulated by, among others, the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella; and OAS Secretary General Albert Ramdin.