Peru's Election Is Neck-And-Neck With 94% Of Votes Counted

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/07/ [login to see] /peru-election-results-pedro-castillo-keiko-fujimori
A rural teacher-turned-political novice and the daughter of an imprisoned former president on Monday traded the lead in a close race for Peru's presidency in a runoff election as the coronavirus pandemic continues to batter the Andean country.

With 94% of ballots tallied, leftist Pedro Castillo had 50.07% of the vote, while conservative Keiko Fujimori had 49.92%, according to official results. This is Fujimori's third run for president, a role her father held in the 1990s.

The figures released by Peru's elections agency, the National Office of Electoral Processes, included almost all votes cast near the country's electoral processing centers. The agency was still waiting for the arrival of votes from remote rural areas and abroad.

"No one can say for sure at this point who is going to win," Fernando Tuesta, a political scientist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and former Peruvian elections chief, told a local radio station. In 2016, now-former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski defeated Fujimori by just 42,597 votes.

Fujimori's support was expected to come from voters in the capital of Lima and other urban areas, while Castillo's sympathizers are in rural communities.