Peru’s electoral board confirms June 7 presidential runoff with Fujimori and Sánchez

LIMA, Peru — After the official results of the first round of the presidential elections in early April were confirmed by Peruvian electoral authorities, it was announced that Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez would advance to the runoff on June 7.

The final vote count was released on Friday, leading to the necessity for Peru’s National Elections Board to validate the results and set the stage for the second round as none of the candidates secured more than half of the valid votes.

Keiko Fujimori, a 50-year-old congresswoman and the daughter of the late President Alberto Fujimori, received 2.8 million votes, accounting for 17.19% of the total votes. This marks her fourth time participating in a presidential runoff.

Roberto Sánchez, a member of the Juntos por el Perú party and a former foreign trade minister under former President Pedro Castillo, garnered 2.015 million votes, representing 12.03% of the total.

Both Fujimori and Sánchez outperformed 33 other candidates by focusing on addressing the rising crime rates, a major concern for Peruvians given the country’s mining-driven economy that has been resilient to political turmoil.

With over 70% of voters not selecting either Fujimori or Sánchez in the initial round, it is evident that both candidates will need to form alliances to secure victory in the upcoming runoff election.

Peru has been grappling with a prolonged political crisis, witnessing the turnover of eight presidents in nearly a decade due to ongoing conflicts between Parliament and the executive branch, as well as protests that resulted in the deaths of 50 demonstrators between 2022 and 2023.

Stay updated on AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america