Electoral authorities in Peru extended Sunday’s election process throughout Monday after a series of delays and logistical issues left several voting stations closed, thousands unable to vote, and uncertainty in the final results.
While the final results remain uncertain at press time, preliminary results from Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) indicate that, with about 52.7 percent of the votes counted as of Monday morning, conservative former first lady and former Senator Keiko Fujimori of the Popular Force party is leading the race with 16.9 percent, followed by conservative former mayor of Lima Rafael López Aliaga of the Popular Renovation party with 14.6 percent.
As the election featured 35 different candidates on the ballot from across the political spectrum, no candidate was expected to secure the 50 percent majority of the votes required to win in the first round on Sunday, with all polls indicating that a runoff election will take place on June 8 between the two most-voted candidates.
Based on ONPE’s preliminary results, the upcoming runoff election is projected to feature two conservative candidates on the ballot.
Peru, a country that has gone through nine presidents in the last ten years, held new presidential and legislative elections on Sunday for the first time since 2021. The elections, whose final results remain uncertain at press time, occurred after Peru went through the removal of Marxist former President Pedro Castillo in December 2022, the impeachment of Dina Boluarte in October 2025, and the ouster of interim President Jose Jerí in February.
While observers from the Organization of American States (OAS) reportedly described Sunday’s election as peaceful and orderly, the electoral event was marred by a series of logistical issues that prevented the timely delivery of electoral material, leading to delays with voting stations and subsequent vote tallying processes while also leaving 13 locations in the Lima Metropolitan area unable to open their doors, with at least 52,000 individuals unable to cast a vote on Sunday.
The head of ONPE, Piero Corvetto, apologized to the Peruvian electorate over the difficulties experienced and requested that the National Jury of Elections (JNE) extended the voting process throughout Monday for the voting centers that were unable to function on Sunday. JNE authorized the request to extend the voting process — which is currently undergoing at press time.
“In order to guarantee the constitutional right to vote of the aforementioned voters, who are distributed across 187 polling stations, the electoral authority will open the respective polling stations between 07:00 a.m. and 06:00 p.m,” Corvetto said. “For this election day, ONPE will use its own vehicles to transport election materials, which will be escorted by the National Police.”
Victor Rico Frontaura, the head of the OAS electoral observer mission to Peru, described the extension as “opportune,” as it allows the right to vote for the more than 52,000 individuals who were unable to cast a vote on Sunday.
The Peruvian newspaper El Comercio explained that Peruvians had been waiting in line outside their corresponding voting stations by 06:00 a.m. on Sunday but that some centers had not yet opened by 07:00 a.m. as they had not yet received any electoral materials. Most of the logistical issues were reportedly experienced at voting centers in the capital city of Lima while the voting process went without any setbacks across the rest of the nation’s regions.
Fujimori, the eldest daughter of late conservative President Alberto Fujimori, addressed her followers on Sunday night and, citing exit poll data from polling firm Datum International indicating that she is the frontrunner candidate, said that Peru is going through a difficult time, but affirmed that “there are signs of hope.”
“It’s time for us to look to the future, and today we’ve taken a very important step in that direction. The country has already begun to change, and the exit poll results are a very positive sign for our country,” Fujimori said.
“As I pointed out during the debate, the enemy is the left, and based on these preliminary results, they won’t be advancing to the second round. And that, I repeat, is good news for all Peruvians,” she continued, announcing that she will immediately begin campaigning across Peru for the upcoming June runoff.
“Today is not a day for celebration, as our country is going through difficult times, but it is a day filled with great hope. Our country is getting closer and closer to restoring order. Thank you very much, and good night to everyone,” she concluded.
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