Voto a voto: expertos explican por qué Keiko podría ganarle a Sánchez

The tight race between Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez has the country on edge. With over 95% of the ballots counted by the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), the difference between the two candidates remains minimal, while experts warn that challenged ballots and overseas votes could ultimately tip the scales in the 2026 presidential runoff. During a television interview, Andrés Salas Jaén, representative of the Naval Union Association, explained that the vote count does not yet reflect all valid votes because hundreds of ballots are still pending review in different regions of the country. He detailed that in several electoral districts, the count has not yet reached 100% due to irregularities detected during the scrutiny process. The admiral emphasized that regions like Cusco still have a significant number of ballots to be resolved. “We currently have 93.17% of the votes counted, and 225 tally sheets that likely favor candidate Sánchez and 47 that have been flagged are still pending review,” he stated. He also indicated that in Lima, 914 tally sheets must be reviewed by the Special Electoral Tribunal, while in Loreto, another 338 tally sheets remain pending. One of the points generating the most attention is the vote of Peruvians residing abroad. Salas Jaén maintained that only about 8% of the tally sheets from abroad had been processed and emphasized that more than 2,300 tally sheets still need to be incorporated into the official count. “We have estimated that the participation of Peruvians abroad may have been between 350,000 and 370,000, and the trend is also favorable to Ms. Fujimori, with an approximate margin of 65% to 35%,” he affirmed. For her part, electoral expert Silvia Guevara clarified several concepts related to the incidents recorded during the process. “There are no challenged tally sheets; what exist are tally sheets with challenged votes, tally sheets with requests for annulment, and tally sheets with observations,” she specified. The expert explained that challenged votes correspond to cases in which polling station officials question the validity of certain ballots, and these must subsequently be evaluated by the competent electoral authorities. WHY ARE SOME TALL SUBTOIES OBSERVED, AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THE QUESTIONED SIGNATURES? Guevara explained that observations can originate from clerical errors such as inconsistencies in the count, arithmetic problems, illegible data, or the absence of required signatures. Regarding the reported cases of apparent discrepancies between the signatures of polling station officials in the first and second rounds, she indicated that there could be several explanations. “That may be the case, it could also be that the signatures are simply due to fatigue, or there may be isolated cases that could be reviewed,” he stated. In the final part of his analysis, Salas Jaén reiterated his electoral projection and asserted that the data collected by the Ojo de Cóndor platform points to an advantage for the Fuerza Popular candidate. “Without considering the tally sheets from abroad, and only considering those tally sheets that had been flagged in Peru, Ms. Keiko Fujimori had a 0.34% lead,” he maintained. While tally sheets from abroad continue to arrive and pending issues are resolved, the official ONPE count continues to capture the attention of millions of Peruvians. #PeruElections2026 #KeikoFujimori #RobertoSanchez #ONPEResults #OverseasVote #Runoff #ObservedBallots #VoteCount #PeruBreakingNews #PeruPresidentialElection