April 20 (UPI) -- Peru's National Jury of Elections, known as Jurado Nacional de Elecciones, said the candidate who will face Keiko Fujimori in the presidential runoff will not be known until mid-May, as authorities review thousands of contested vote tallies from the April 13 election.
With 94.1% of votes counted, Fujimori leads with 17.05%. The race for second place remains extremely tight between leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez, who has 12.01%, and far-right contender Rafael López Aliaga, with 11.98%.
Although voting concluded last week, the final count has been delayed by errors, omissions and legal challenges that affect thousands of tally sheets that must be examined individually by regional electoral panels.
The jury's secretary-general, Yessica Clavijo, said a recount of about 100 tally sheets will begin Monday in a public virtual session. She told RPP Noticias authorities expect to complete the presidential vote count by the second week of May.
More than 15,000 tally sheets from the general election have been flagged for review, Clavijo said. About 30% correspond to the presidential race, meaning over 5,000 records were sent to special electoral juries due to errors or missing information.
