Peru’s Sanchez proposes joint recount as Fujimori holds razor-thin lead

Peruvian leftist presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez has formally proposed a joint vote recount to his conservative rival, Keiko Fujimori, following the tallying of overseas ballots. The request, announced at a press conference on Friday, comes as Fujimori holds a razor-thin lead of 50.005 percent to Sanchez’s 49.995 percent after votes from abroad were counted.

Sanchez cited alleged irregularities in Lima and overseas voting, calling for an exhaustive review to ensure transparency. He suggested that both candidates jointly request the recount from electoral authorities, stating that transparency may not have been upheld as it should in specific instances. The proposal follows a demand from Fujimori’s party to annul votes from the south, highlighting the tense and ideologically opposed nature of the race.

Counting is proceeding at a sluggish pace, with electoral authorities having tallied 98.27 percent of ballots from the second round. Fujimori took the lead late on Wednesday after the overseas votes were processed. The race is described as a contest between two figures vying to end years of political chaos in Peru, with both candidates representing opposing political factions.

Electoral authorities estimate the final tally could take between two and three weeks as challenged and disputed tally sheets undergo review. The standard procedure for reviewing these documents can take several days, a process that has been keenly felt in Peru following a haphazard first round of voting in April that also took weeks to produce a concrete result.

The final outcome remains uncertain, with the margin between the candidates being extremely narrow. Fujimori is making her fourth presidential bid and is the daughter of the late president Alberto Fujimori, who was jailed for human rights violations. Sanchez is backed by former president Pedro Castillo, a schoolteacher jailed after a failed attempt to dissolve Congress in 2022.