Peru faces a presidential runoff as election count drags on after ballot delays

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvians will vote in a presidential runoff in two months after none of the 35 candidates secured an outright victory in the weekend election, though by Tuesday afternoon, the two contenders in the June vote were still unconfirmed.

Electoral authorities continued to count the ballots for a third straight day as authorities were forced to extend voting into Monday after ballots had not been delivered in time to polling stations.

With 77% of ballots tallied, official results on Tuesday showed Keiko Fujimori, the conservative daughter of a disgraced former president, leading the count with 16.86% of the votes, while Rafael López Aliaga, the ultraconservative former mayor of Peru’s capital, Lima, earned 12.66%.

Jorge Nieto Montesinos was close in the third place, with 11.74% of the vote, maintaining a narrow chance of making it into the June 7 runoff.

The sluggish pace of the count mirrored Peru’s 2021 presidential election, a contest where final tallies weren't completed until five days after polls closed.

A presidential candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright. The two candidates with the most votes in a first round advance to the runoff. The winner will be Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years.

A European Union election observation mission said Tuesday it didn't see “sufficient grounds” supporting claims of fraud, following allegations by López Aliaga, who described the election — without providing evidence — as a “fraud of a kind unique in the world.”

The election has been mired with logistical issues that left thousands in the country and abroad unable to cast ballots. That prompted authorities to allow more than 52,000 residents of Lima to vote on Monday. The extension, announced after vote counting had begun Sunday evening, also covered Peruvians registered to vote in Orlando, Florida, and Paterson, New Jersey.

“I’m fed up,” Iris Valle, 56, said as she waited to vote on Monday at a public school in Lima, the country's capital. She feared that her employer would cut her pay for not showing up early, because she had to fulfill her voting obligation.

Voting is mandatory for Peruvians from the ages of 18 to 70. Failure to vote comes with a fine of up to $32.

The election took place amid a surge in violent crime and corruption that has fueled widespread discontent among voters, who largely view candidates as dishonest and unprepared for the presidency.

Peru’s economy, however, has defied both the crime surge and the political instability stemming from a revolving door of presidents, having had three since last October alone. Aided by its status as one of the world’s largest copper producers, the country posted more than 3% growth in 2024 and 2025, though that’s lower than the 5%-6% annual growth it saw in the 2000s.

Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, explained that the independence of the country’s central bank has also contributed to economic growth.

“Although Peru has had all these presidents, it has had only one central bank president since the mid-2000s, Julio Velarde,” Freeman said. “He’s been a real source of stability and given investors some confidence that there is an institutional core that remains from one presidency to the next in Peru.”

Still, Freeman warned, Peru can't afford to be complacent as current growth is lower than the 5%-6% annual rates the country saw in the 2000s and recent congressional decisions point to “a more conservative economic populism.”

In her fourth bid for the presidency, Fujimori has promised to crack down on crime but has also defended laws that experts say make it difficult to prosecute criminals. The laws, which her party backed in recent years, eliminated preliminary detention in certain cases and raised the threshold for seizing criminal assets.

If elected, she has said that judges presiding over criminal cases will be anonymous and prisoners will have to work to earn their food.

Meanwhile, López Aliaga has proposed building prisons in the country’s Amazon region, and lobbied for allowing judges to conceal their identities and expelling foreigners who are living illegally in Peru.

For the first time in more than 30 years, voters were also asked to choose members of a bicameral Congress, following recent legislative reforms that concentrate significant power in the new upper chamber.

Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Rafael Lopez Aliaga, presidential candidate of the Popular Renewal party, speaks to supporters as electoral authorities continue to count the ballots two days after general elections in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Keiko Fujimori, presidential candidate of the Popular Force party, departs a polling station after voting during general elections in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerardo Marin)

Voters line up as voting resumes at a polling stations affected by delays during general elections in Lima, Peru, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

A woman votes as polling resumes at a station affected by delays and logistical problems during general elections in Lima, Peru, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

An election official checks voter lists as voting resumes at polling stations affected by delays and logistical problems during general elections in Lima, Peru, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Voters check the rolls as voting in the general election resumes at polling stations affected by delays and logistical problems in Lima, Peru, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

The co-pilot suspected in this week's FlyDubai attack has been identified as an Omani national, and the United Arab Emirates says he attacked the captain with the cockpit's crash axe before trying to seize the controls.

Meanwhile, a hospital in Gaza says Israeli strikes have killed five people, including two from the Palestinian territory's Christian minority. And a fire broke out at an oil facility in the Saudi capital, with no details released on the cause.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Full coverage is available here.

The co-pilot suspected of stabbing the captain of an Israel-bound FlyDubai flight before passengers and others stopped the attack is an Omani national named Hamam al-Hammami, three people with knowledge of the situation, including a Gulf and a Western diplomat, said.

All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The Gulf diplomat said investigations are underway to establish whether he acted alone.

The United Arab Emirates said the co-pilot attacked the captain with the cockpit’s crash axe and tried to take control of the plane in a “terrorist attack.”

The co-pilot, who officials said nearly crashed the sharply plummeting flight with 182 people aboard, was barred from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted extremist views, a separate person familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

— By Samy Magdy, Sam Mednick, Anna Johnson

Israeli strikes overnight in Gaza killed five people, according to Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Four women were among the dead. A mother and daughter among them were Christians, a minority in Gaza, the hospital said, and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, expressed condolences.

A large fire burned at the site, where the strikes tore a gaping hole in the ground floor of a multistory building. The hospital said people were still reported missing beneath the debris.

Israel's military did not immediately comment, saying it was checking for information.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,439 Palestinians in Gaza since a ceasefire was reached with the Hamas militant group nearly a year ago, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Its figures are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat, and in response to ceasefire violations, including occasional attacks.

A fire broke out at an oil facility in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, sending dense black smoke into the air, an eyewitness said, speaking on condition of anonymity for his safety.

It wasn’t clear what caused the fire at an Aramco oil refinery. Authorities tightened security in the area and police blocked roads leading to it, the witness said.

The Saudi state-run Aramco oil company and the government-run Center for International Communication, which oversees foreign media in Saudi Arabia, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Saudi oil facilities recently have been hit in missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. A major escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis has revived Yemen’s civil war.

— By Samy Magdy

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said airstrikes hit the capital, Sanaa, as renewed fighting raged between the Houthis on one side and Saudi Arabia and Yemen's internationally recognized government on the other. Residents reported hearing three loud explosions.

The Houthi media office accused Saudi Arabia of launching the strikes but didn’t offer evidence. There was no immediate Saudi comment.

Iran executed a man convicted of firing at police during widespread unrest in January, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The report identified the man as Siavash Jamshidi Kheirabadi, a resident of Shahrekord in central Iran. It said he confessed to possessing weapons and firing at police, and was convicted on charges including moharebeh, Farsi for "waging war against God."

The report did not say how the execution was carried out, though Iran typically carries out executions by hanging. Earlier this week, IRNA reported that Iran had executed two other men over violence during the January protests.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

Mourners pray over the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an early morning Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Gaza city, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A destroyed building is seen at the site of an early morning Israeli airstrike in Gaza city, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians inspect the site of an early morning Israeli airstrike in Gaza city, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)