Right-Wing Fujimori Holds Narrow Lead One Week Before Peru Presidential Runoff, Polls Show

LIMA, May 31 (Reuters) – Right-wing ⁠candidate ⁠Keiko Fujimori holds a narrow ⁠lead over leftist Roberto Sanchez one week before ​Peru’s presidential runoff, two polls showed on Sunday.

Fujimori is expected to take 38% ‌of the votes while Sanchez ‌is predicted to secure 35% in the runoff on June ⁠7, according ⁠to the Ipsos poll conducted May 29-30 and published in ​the local newspaper Peru 21.

Support for Fujimori fell by one percentage point compared to the previous Ipsos poll, while Sanchez maintained the same level of support. ​The number of people who said they would not vote for ⁠any ⁠candidate or would spoil ⁠their ballot ​increased by one percentage point to 27%.

“The big question in the final ​week is what undecided ⁠voters or those who say they plan to cast a blank or invalid ballot will do,” said Alfredo Torres, CEO of Ipsos. “The logic of choosing the lesser evil will ultimately determine who will be ⁠president of Peru for the 2026-2031 term.”

Another poll, conducted May 26-30 by ⁠Datum Internacional and published in the local newspaper El Comercio, showed Fujimori securing 39.8% of the vote and Sanchez taking 35.9%.

Fujimori, late former President Alberto Fujimori’s daughter who is running for the fourth time, won the first round on April 12 with 17% of votes. Sanchez, an ally of jailed former leftist President Pedro Castillo, narrowly secured a place in the runoff ⁠with 12% of votes.

Both candidates will take part in a debate later on Sunday.

Ipsos’ poll had a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points while Datum Internacional had a margin of error ​of 2.5 percentage points.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by ​Leila Miller, editing by Deepa Babington)

Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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