Leftist Sanchez gains traction ahead of Peru runoff vote, Ipsos poll shows

June 4 (Reuters) – Peru’s leftist presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez has gained ground against conservative Keiko Fujimori ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff, though both candidates remained in a statistical tie, an Ipsos poll showed on Thursday.

Sanchez, ally of ousted and jailed former President Pedro Castillo, has recently moderated his messaging and secured 43.8% of support in the poll. Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, gained 43.2% of the intended vote, the poll showed.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The poll was conducted on June 3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1%, sources close to Ipsos said.

• About 13% of poll respondents voted blank or annulled their ballot.

• A previous Ipsos poll released May 31 showed Fujimori at 38% and Sanchez at 35%, with 27% of voters still undecided.

• Fujimori, running for the fourth time and considered pro-market, won the first round of the presidential vote on April 12 with 17.18% of votes.

• Sanchez narrowly came second with 12.03% of votes.

• It is illegal within Peru to publish polls during the last week before a presidential election. Surveys can be carried out as long as local media do not publish them.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino, Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)