LIMA, April 26 - A fresh Ipsos Peru poll released on Sunday indicates the country's presidential race could head into a neck-and-neck runoff, with right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto Sanchez both polling at 38% for a potential June 7 second round. The survey is the first public poll taken since the April 12 first round.
The vote-counting process has been slow, and that delay has coincided with allegations of fraud from ultra-conservative contender Rafael Lopez Aliaga. Lopez Aliaga trails Sanchez by roughly 24,000 votes in the highly contested scramble for second place - a margin that has increased in recent days.
Lopez Aliaga has demanded that thousands of votes be annulled on the grounds of alleged fraud. European Union observers, however, reported they found no evidence supporting those claims.
According to the count with 95.8% of votes reported, Fujimori leads the first-round tallies with 17%, Sanchez holds 12%, and Lopez Aliaga has 11.9%.
The Ipsos poll also explored an alternative runoff scenario. If Fujimori were to face Lopez Aliaga instead of Sanchez, the survey showed Fujimori would be trailing 31% to 34%.
Regional and international bodies have weighed in on the unfolding dispute. The Organization of American States on Friday endorsed the electoral board's dismissal of requests for supplementary elections and urged "unrestricted respect for the popular will."
Roberto Sanchez previously served as a minister under jailed former President Pedro Castillo.
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