Peru: Polls show right-wing Fujimori and left-wing Sanchez in a tie in the presidential election runoff

(Patria) - Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori is heading into a tied presidential election runoff against left-winger Roberto Sanchez, a new poll released on Sunday showed, as vote counting in Peru drags on amid fraud allegations and a tight race for second place, Reuters reported.

The daughter of the late president Alberto Fujimori would tie Sanchez with 38% each in the June 7 runoff, polling firm Ipsos Peru said, in the first poll since the April 12 first round.

The slow count has prompted fraud accusations from ultra-conservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who trails Sanchez by about 24,000 votes in the battle for second place – a gap that has widened in recent days.

Lopez Aliaga has demanded thousands of votes be annulled as fraudulent, but European Union observers have said they found no evidence to support those claims.

With 95.8% of votes counted, Fujimori leads with 17%, Sanchez has 12% and Lopez Aliaga 11.9%.

If Fujimori were to face Lopez Aliaga instead of Sanchez, she would lose 31% to 34%, the poll showed.

The Organization of American States on Friday backed the rejection of electoral commission requests for a supplementary election and called for “unlimited respect for the popular will.”

Sanchez served as a minister under the jailed former president Pedro Castillo.