Peru Counts Votes in Tight Presidential Runoff

(MENAFN) Peru's electoral authorities launched vote tallying Sunday as polls closed on a closely contested presidential runoff, with isolated irregularities casting an early shadow over the process in the capital Lima.

The day was not without turbulence. Reports emerged of delays and absent poll workers at multiple voting centers across Lima, while authorities moved swiftly to investigate claims that hundreds of pre-marked ballots — favoring both candidates — had been discovered at certain polling stations. Electoral officials nonetheless maintained that every polling station nationwide had been equipped with the necessary voting materials and remained fully operational throughout the second round.

The runoff pits front-runner Keiko Fujimori, backed by the right-wing Popular Force party, against Roberto Sanchez, the standard-bearer of the left-wing Together for Peru party — two candidates representing sharply divergent visions for the country's future.

Fujimori has anchored her campaign on combating surging crime rates and consolidating support in Peru's densely populated urban centers. Sanchez, by contrast, has galvanized rural backing among Indigenous and Andean communities with pledges to redraft the country's constitution and pursue a more aggressive redistribution of national wealth.

Whoever prevails will become Peru's ninth president in a single decade — inheriting a nation of 34 million people that is deeply fractured and increasingly gripped by insecurity.

For ordinary Peruvians, the stakes could not feel more personal.

"Every day, people are being killed over extortion payments," said Sonia, a street vendor in Lima. "We're hoping for more protection for all Peruvians."

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