Peru's Tight Presidential Race: Fujimori's Lead Amid Voting Delays

Prolonged voting and uncertainties mar Peru's election as Keiko Fujimori maintains a slim lead. Logistical problems led to extended voting, with Fujimori garnering 17% of the vote in preliminary counts. Rival candidates Rafael Lopez Aliaga and Jorge Nieto follow closely, highlighting a competitive and unpredictable race.

Delays at polling stations and ongoing uncertainties characterized the second day of voting in Peru's presidential election on Monday, with conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori clinging to a narrow lead.

Logistical challenges in distributing voting equipment compelled electoral officials to extend voting into Monday, allowing tens of thousands of voters, who were unable to cast their ballots on Sunday due to delayed polling station openings, to participate. The official count by Peru's electoral body, ONPE, indicated early on that former congresswoman Fujimori was leading with approximately 17% of the votes.

She was followed by right-wing former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga with roughly 15%, and center-left candidate Jorge Nieto in third place with around 13%, with half of the votes counted. Earlier exit polls had projected Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, imprisoned for human rights abuses, in the lead, while Lopez Aliaga had briefly taken the lead in the official count, highlighting the tight and fluid nature of the race.