June 8 (Reuters) – Peru’s conservative presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori kept a slight lead on Monday over her leftist rival in a runoff election, with over 90% of the votes counted, an official tally showed.
Fujimori, the daughter of hardline former President Alberto Fujimori, secured 50.48% of the votes, while leftist congressman Roberto Sanchez, who has strong support in rural areas, trailed her by less than 200,000 votes with the remaining 49.52%.
Polls leading up to the election showed the two candidates in a statistical tie.
An early tally published by pollster Ipsos late on Sunday showed Roberto Sanchez leading the presidential race with 50.3% compared to Keiko Fujimori’s 49.7%, a statistical tie according to Ipsos representatives.
Peru’s presidential race remains too close to call and continued to tighten as the count entered its second day.
The result echoes the 2021 runoff, when Fujimori and Pedro Castillo finished roughly 50.1% to 49.9% and the proclamation dragged on for weeks amid nullity challenges.
Votes from the capital Lima, Fujimori’s stronghold, tend to be counted first, while Sanchez could gain ground in the final stretch as ballots from rural areas are counted.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Benjamin Mejias; Editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
