Peru’s Keiko Fujimori looked set to face a runoff against a conservative rival after a troubled first-round presidential election on Sunday marred by logistics foul-ups, police raids and allegations of fraud. First counts and exit polls showed the 50-year-old daughter of disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori ahead in the 35-candidate race, but she was well short of the 50 percent needed to win outright. Her nearest rival was far-right Rafael “Porky” Lopez Aliaga -- who has vowed to “hunt” Venezuelan migrants and likens himself to a cartoon pig -- although he was in a tight race for a runoff spot with millions of votes still to count. Peruvians had hoped Sunday’s election would end the political chaos that has brought eight presidents in a decade and a surge in violent crime. But election day saw yet more tumult, with missing election materials preventing 100 polling centers from opening on time. Amid hours-long delays, police and prosecutors raided the headquarters of the National Office of Electoral Processes in an effort to find out who was to blame. In all, some 63,000 voters were unable to cast their ballots, prompting the authorities to declare that 13 polling places would open in Lima on Monday to allow them another chance. By early Monday morning, official results showed Fujimori with 17 percent of the vote, and Lopez Aliaga with 16 percent.
continue reading







