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Fujimori declared president-elect
Peru’s National Jury of Elections (JNE) officially proclaimed Keiko Fujimori as president-elect after a long recount of votes from the June 7 presidential runoff, with results already released June 29.
The JNE certified Fujimori’s victory on Friday, and the ticket was set to include Luis Galarreta as first vice president and Miguel Torres as second vice president for the 2026-2031 period.
Fujimori won 50.135% of the vote against Roberto Sánchez’s 49.865%, a margin of 49,641 votes, with the JNE proclamation following ONPE’s announcement that 100% of acts were tallied.
In her post on X, Fujimori wrote, "I receive with profound gratitude the trust that millions of Peruvians have placed in me" and added, "Empieza una nueva etapa".
The next steps in the transition were scheduled for credentials on July 15 at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima and an inauguration on July 28 in an act in the Parliament for Peru’s national day.
Sánchez rejects results
Roberto Sánchez, the leftist candidate who ran in the runoff, announced he would not recognize Fujimori as president and said he would turn to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) over alleged irregularities.
CNN en Español reported that Sánchez contends that irregularities in the overseas vote swung the result in Fujimori’s favor, saying the records from those polling stations were sent in diplomatic pouches and not digitized at the consulates.
At the proclamation ceremony, JNE president Roberto Burneo said he proclaimed Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi as President of the Republic, and Yessica Clavijo indicated that Fuerza Popular obtained 9,223,396 votes while Juntos por el Peru totaled 9,173,755.
The JNE also said an appeal filed by Juntos por el Peru was declared unfounded, confirming the results of minutes issued by a special electoral tribunal in Lima.
Fujimori framed the transition in her own words on X, writing, "Each day of this transition process is an opportunity to listen, engage in dialogue, and arrive prepared".
Credentials and regional implications
The JNE proclamation was described as the completion of the electoral process with no turning back on the result, after Sánchez’s attempts to block the act by alleging fraud without evidence and calling for annulment of the overseas vote were rejected.
“Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has been declared the winner of Peru’s presidential race by the country’s electoral court, the National Jury of Elections (JNE)”
France 24 said the next step would be the issuance of credentials to the elected president on July 15, while the inauguration ceremony was scheduled for July 28, Peru’s Independence Day.
In the same period, the RTVE.es report said the Government of Spain congratulated Fujimori for her victory and the Peruvian people for the development of the electoral process.
AP reported that the runoff was dominated by people’s concerns over surging crime, and it said Fujimori pledged to combat crime with an "iron fist".
AP also tied the outcome to a broader regional shift, noting that Fujimori’s victory, along with those of Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia and José Antonio Kast in Chile, confirmed a regional shift toward the conservative wing.
