Left in Peru calls for annulment of votes abroad

According to a count by the National Office of Electoral Processes (Onpe), the body responsible for counting, Fujimori currently appears with 50.002% of the votes, against 49.998% for Sánchez, with more than 98% of the electoral records counted. The difference between the two candidates at this moment is less than a thousand votes, in one of the closest disputes in the country’s recent history. The right-wing candidate leads the vote abroad, with 63.4% of the votes.

Juntos por el Perú filed nullity requests that affect hundreds of electoral colleges abroad, including 647 colleges located in the United States. The party accuses alleged irregularities in these places, such as undue intervention by employees of the Peruvian chancellery and orientation of voters in favor of Fujimori.

In the United States, Fujimori had a wide advantage over Sánchez. According to official counting data, the Fuerza Popular party candidate received 44,440 votes in the country, equivalent to 76.559%, while Sánchez obtained 13,607 votes, or 23.441%.

Sánchez’s party also called for the annulment of more than 1,700 voting minutes in Peru. According to the appeal presented to the National Elections Juror (JNE), the left-wing party claims to have identified voting patterns that it considers “statistically impossible” and that would indicate alleged tampering with the minutes.

Fujimori’s campaign rejected the accusations. According to Luis Dyer, head of inspectors at Fuerza Popular, the nullity requests have no legal basis and involve minutes signed by representatives of Juntos por el Perú itself. He stated that the electoral process was clean and that the party’s legal team is prepared to respond to the appeals.

After the upset over Sánchez, Keiko Fujimori adopted a cautious tone. The candidate stated that she will be “prudent” and that she will await the final result of the vote count before making a statement about the electoral process. She also said that Sánchez has the right to file requests for annulment, although she said she saw no reason to do so.

While leading the count, Sánchez said he would accept the results of the election, but, after suffering a turnaround in the vote count, he started talking about supposed “maneuvers” to alter “the democratic will”.

The election in Peru does not yet have a definitive result. Part of the minutes are currently being analyzed by electoral bodies, and the official definition of the country’s new president may depend on the review of these documents.