Peru faces drawn-out count as presidential race goes down to the wire

Peru faced a drawn-out count in its bitterly contested presidential run-off after results showed the race for the ninth head of state in 10 years was too close to call.

Figures released by electoral authorities showed conservative politician Keiko Fujimori with a modest lead over nationalist congressman Roberto Sanchez with 58 per cent of ballots tallied in a contest overshadowed by people’s concerns about surging crime. The outcome, expected to be tight, may not be known for days.

The figures showed Fujimori received 5.96 million votes, or 52.6 per cent, while Sanchez earned 5.36 million votes, or 47.4 per cent. That lead was projected to evaporate as ballots came in from rural areas that Sanchez has dominated.

“As of now there is no winner. There will be long days ahead,” Fujimori said on Sunday.

Unlike the first-round vote, no major incidents delayed the opening or closure of voting centres. In the capital, however, voter turnout throughout Sunday appeared lower than in the previous contest, with practically no lines in many voting centres, despite voting being mandatory.

Fujimori, daughter of a disgraced former president, and Sanchez, an ally of an imprisoned ex-president, were on the run-off’s ballot after beating 33 other candidates in the vote in April, but neither earned even 20 per cent of support. Electoral authorities took more than a month to declare them winners of that contest.