A Peruvian electoral jury rejected, on Tuesday, as unfounded, the request of the left-wing presidential candidate, Roberto Sánchez, to annul the votes abroad in the second presidential round against the right-wing candidate.
Peruvian right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori secured a sufficient margin this Wednesday to win the second round of the presidential elections and awaits the official announcement of the results, according to the international press.
With 99.79% of the votes counted in the second round of the presidential elections, Fujimori has 50.11% of the valid votes against Sánchez’s 49.88%, a narrow difference that can no longer be reversed, given that there are around 38,200 votes left to be counted for both candidates.
As of Tuesday night, 191 electoral ballots remained to be scrutinized, equivalent to 0.2% of the total of 92,766 tables installed for the June 7 vote, each with around 200 votes on average.
Furthermore, a Peruvian electoral jury rejected, on Tuesday, as unfounded, the request of the left-wing presidential candidate, Roberto Sánchez, to annul the votes abroad in the second presidential round against the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori.
The resolution refers to voting tables under the responsibility of consular offices in Africa, North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Asia and the Middle East, Europe and Oceania, said a statement from the National Elections Juror (JNE).
The highest electoral authority clarified that the nullity request was presented after the deadline and without payment of the electoral tax by the Together for Peru party, led by Sánchez, thus violating electoral regulations.
In its resolution, the special electoral jury urged the legal representative of Juntos pelo Peru to adapt his conduct respecting the principles of collaboration, good faith and speed, to give the maximum possible dynamic to the electoral procedures and avoid actions that delay their development.
Sánchez declared that he will not recognize a possible government by Keiko Fujimori and assured that there was a “serious impact on the electoral process”, especially in voting abroad.
According to him, administrative irregularities and irregularities in the conservation of electoral material would have affected the vote outside the country, which represents around 300 thousand votes and largely benefited his rival.
According to Sánchez, excluding votes cast outside the national territory, he would have an advantage of around 25 thousand votes over Keiko Fujimori.
Another request to annul voting tables in several cities in the United States, France and Spain, presented by a Peruvian citizen, was also declared unfounded due to being untimely, the applicant’s lack of legitimacy and failure to pay the fee, the electoral court indicated.
The percentages of the election are reversed if votes from abroad are removed, in which case Sánchez reaches 50.11% of the valid votes, with 38,007 more votes than the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who registers 49.88%.
A European Union mission considered that the second round took place in a “calm and orderly” manner, despite a strongly polarized campaign.
The second round on June 7 resulted in one of the closest disputes in recent Latin American history, with the two candidates alternating in the lead until Keiko Fujimori consolidated the advantage.
The ballot was particularly awaited in a country marked by strong political instability. Since 2016, eight presidents have succeeded each other as head of Peru, amid repeated institutional crises.
