Peruvian presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez on June 11 denounced the second-round election as “fraudulent” and declared he would not recognize a victory by rival Keiko Fujimori if she wins.
Speaking at a press conference, Sanchez called for public protests this weekend. On social media, he wrote: “We will not recognize that government and will declare a state of political and social struggle—a popular and patriotic resistance movement.”
According to vote counts as of June 11, with over 99.7% of ballots tallied, Fujimori led with 50.11% support, while Sanchez had 49.89%. The margin between the two candidates was just 40,687 votes.
Sanchez questioned the legitimacy of votes cast from abroad. Peru set up about 2,506 polling stations overseas, with more than 1.2 million expatriate voters, representing roughly 4.4% of the national electorate.
He criticized the electoral authority’s decision to drop the requirement to scan and digitize ballot counts at overseas polling stations. Sanchez argued the procedural change made the voting process vulnerable to interference, yielding “fraudulent benefits” for Fujimori. He called on the National Election Jury (JNE) to annul the June 7 election results at 119 Peruvian consular offices abroad, citing “seriously compromised electoral procedures.” However, Sanchez provided no specific evidence for his allegations.
Fujimori, the candidate of the right-wing Popular Force party, called Sanchez’s actions “an act of political desperation.” She made similar fraud allegations in the 2021 election, when she narrowly lost to leftist candidate Pedro Castillo.
Fraud claims emerged immediately after the first round of voting on April 12, when long lines and delays in ballot distribution raised questions about voter access in the general election, and it took nearly a month to produce official results.
