Peruvian election body says it will fix “flaws” in the voting process before the presidential vote in June
Peru’s top election official promised on Sunday to fix the “flaws” that caused the first-round election results to be delayed by one month, a month before the presidential runoff on June 7.
The National Elections Board (JNE) officially named Roberto Sanchez, a socialist, and Keiko Fujimori, a candidate for the presidency on the right. The board also said that a group of national and foreign experts would be put together to help with oversight during the second round.
JNE President Roberto Burneo held a news conference. He said, “We cannot deny that there were many problems and flaws in the logistical deployment by the organizing entity, ONPE.”
Polling places were late opening on April 12, which meant that voting had to go on for an extra day, mostly in Lima, the city. Because of the problems, ultraconservative candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga accused the government of fraud. He barely missed finishing in third place.
Burneo said that the new oversight team is made up of five researchers from Puerto Rico, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay who are experts in cybersecurity and election materials.
“We have incorporated all the lessons learned from the first round and are strengthening oversight,” Burneo stated.
Lopez Aliaga’s party announced its intention to request the annulment of the first-round results after the official naming of the finalists. The JNE said that the results were “final and cannot be changed.”
In a post on X, Lopez Aliaga said, “The electoral fraud in Peru has just been consummated. We will not accept results that are in line with fraud and corruption.”
