Peru reviews disputed election ballots with final result likely stalled until May

By Marco Aquino and Lucinda Elliott

LIMA, April 20 (Reuters) – Peru’s electoral authorities began reviewing thousands of contested ballots on Monday, stalling the count in the April 12 general election and delaying final results, as no clear presidential rival has emerged to face conservative frontrunner Keiko Fujimori in a June runoff.

Roughly 6% of polling stations – representing more than one million votes – were challenged last week due to missing information or errors on tally sheets, according to Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE). 

Peru’s top electoral body, the National Jury of Elections (JNE), said it has started reviewing disputed polling stations in public hearings before adding them to the final tally, a process that could take weeks.

“We expect that by mid-May we will have, at the very least, the presidential results, which are what we need to determine the runoff,” JNE Secretary General Yessica Clavijo told local radio station RPP.

The official vote count has barely moved since Friday. With nearly 94% of ballots tallied, Fujimori was holding about 17% of the vote, according to ONPE. Left-wing congressman Roberto Sanchez and ultra-conservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga remained locked in a tight contest for second place, with 12.0% and 11.9% of the vote respectively – a margin of roughly 13,000 votes.

Over the past week, Sanchez has gradually pulled ahead of former Lima mayor Lopez Aliaga, reflecting a pattern that has favored the leftist lawmaker, an ally of jailed ex-president Pedro Castillo. Castillo won the presidency in 2021 with strong support from rural and interior regions of the country.

Most of the disputed stations are located outside the capital Lima, and their geographic origin will be the “determining factor for the second round,” JPMorgan said in a client note.

“The fact that the gap has widened again, even as urban and overseas votes continue to be counted, suggests that Sanchez’s rural base is generating enough votes to offset opposing pressure,” the bank added.

Delays to the count have prompted fraud allegations from Lopez Aliaga and calls for the resignation of ONPE chief Piero Corvetto from business leaders and lawmakers from several political parties.

The JNE filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors against him, alleging offenses including violations of voting rights.

Corvetto has acknowledged logistical delays but denied that any irregularities took place. Corvetto did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

European ​Union election observers said last week they found no evidence of fraud.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Lucinda Elliott; Editing by Bill Berkrot)