Sánchez claims fraud in the Peruvian presidential election
According to the leftist candidate, the rules for overseas voting (where Fujimori won) were allegedly changed before the runoff. He announced that he will launch a democratic resistance on June 27 against a government he has vowed not to recognize.
Leftist presidential candidate Roberto Sánchez. Photo: ANDINA
Peru’s National Elections Board announced early on June 24, that far-right candidate Keiko Fujimori had secured an irreversible lead over Roberto Sánchez in Peru’s closest-ever runoff election.
Thus, with 99.87% of the ballots counted, the daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori is projected to have received 50.12% of the valid votes, while the leftist Sánchez, who had vowed to pardon former president Pedro Castillo, is projected to have received 49.88%.
The electoral authority announced that 191 ballots remain to be counted, equivalent to 0.2% of the votes, which means that even if all the votes went to Sánchez, he would not be able to catch up to Fujimori.
They haven’t declared the Fuerza Popular candidate the winner because Roberto Sánchez has filed a request to annul the overseas vote on the grounds that, according to the Juntos Por el Perú candidate, electoral fraud was committed.
This allegedly occurred through changes to the voting rules before the start of the runoff election, which, according to Sánchez, tainted the entire election precisely because of the votes that secured Fujimori’s victory (the overseas votes, where the far-right candidate swept the ballot).
“We have filed a motion for ex officio annulment so that the JNE will declare the elections held at the 119 consular offices null and void, given that the electoral process has been seriously compromised by the changes introduced at the request of the Executive Branch (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), specifically in the presidential runoff,” Sánchez wrote on X.
According to Sánchez, the change involved the mandatory suspension of the digitization and scanning of ballots cast abroad immediately after the conclusion of the electoral process (a procedure that had been carried out during the first round) which, he claims, would have made it possible to rig the overseas vote in favor of Keiko Fujimori.
In this regard, Sánchez announced that he will not recognize a likely victory by Fujimori and that he will use all legal tools and strategies to fight against a government that he already considers illegitimate. “Under these conditions of regulatory violations, we will not recognize Ms. Fujimori’s government … The democratic struggle will be waged within the framework of the law and the constitution,” said Sánchez.
The candidate for Juntos Por el Perú called on all democratic forces opposed to what he considers electoral fraud to launch a national day of protest in Lima, the capital, on Saturday, June 27. Sánchez hopes this mobilization will subsequently spread to all regions of the country.
Furthermore, he promised that if his request to annul the overseas vote is not granted, and Fujimori is declared president-elect, he will file lawsuits both inside and outside Peru, specifically within the supranational inter-American system. He said he would do so despite the persecution of social leaders and human rights defenders who are currently facing trials for carrying out their political and professional activities.
