Fujimori nears victory in Peru's presidential count as the left calls for protests

MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Wednesday, June 17th 2026 - 09:14 UTC

The overseas vote, already tallied, heavily favored Fujimori while within Peru the balance tilted toward Sánchez

Ten days after the June 7 presidential runoff, Peru still has no proclaimed winner, but the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori is heading toward victory. With 99.1% of the vote counted, she leads the left-wing Roberto Sánchez by some 36,889 votes and is projected as the virtual winner, while the left pushes mobilizations and nullity appeals. The official proclamation remains pending on 0.84% of tally sheets under review, with a deadline of mid-July.

The remaining contested tally sheets come mostly from Lima and Callao, where Fujimori has her electoral stronghold, so analysts expect the gap to widen in her favor. “At this point, it is practically impossible for Sánchez to reverse the vote difference,” said political scientist Fernando Tuesta, who described the runoff as one of the closest in the country's history, with a margin below 1%.