By Alexander Villegas and Marco Aquino
LIMA, June 11 (Reuters) – Conservative Keiko Fujimori retook the lead in Peru’s tight presidential race late on Wednesday as the remaining overseas ballots pushed her past leftist rival Roberto Sanchez.
Fujimori now has the slimmest of edges with 50.002% to Sanchez’s 49.998%, a lead of about 650 votes, with 98.21% of polling stations reporting, or about 18 million votes, according to Peru’s ONPE electoral authority.
Only a sliver of votes remain to be counted, but 1.76% of polling stations representing about 400,000 votes have been flagged for judicial review – a process that could take weeks.
Most of the contested ballots are from the Lima metropolitan region, Fujimori’s stronghold.
The two candidates have been neck-and-neck throughout the count, with Fujimori leading exit polls and Sanchez being slightly ahead in the Ipsos quick count, which has accurately predicted previous races.
Fujimori and Sanchez had called for calm and patience throughout the count, but Sanchez – who overtook Fujimori on Monday, buoyed by rural votes – began to harden his tone on Wednesday and called for a meeting with international observers to discuss “strange, unusual and questionable developments.”
Some Sanchez supporters gathered outside Peru’s National Election Jury (JNE) offices in central Lima on Wednesday but were dispersed with water cannons.
This is Fujimori’s fourth consecutive runoff after losing the last two by just fractions of a percent. In 2021, Fujimori – the daughter of polarizing former president Alberto Fujimori – lost to jailed President Pedro Castillo by around 45,000 votes.
Sanchez, who served as a minister under Castillo, has been his political heir in this race, donning the same signature cowboy hat and waiting for early results outside the prison where Castillo is being held.
Fujimori has given few statements during the count, but has repeatedly said she’s optimistic.
(Reporting by Alexander Villegas, Marco Aquino and Bipasha Dey; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Kevin Buckland)
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