Pedro Castillo Rejects Attempt to Annul Peruvian Elections

Electoral authorities warn that, after the nullity requests, the official count may be delayed for weeks.

Peru's presidential candidate for the Peru Libre party, Pedro Castillo, who is leading the second electoral round, rejected the calls to annul the elections under a presumption of fraud made by politicians supporting Keiko Fujimori.

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"They continue to call for an election to be overturned," Castillo warned from his party's headquarters in Lima. "We patients are waiting for a result," he added, referring to the fact that the National Jury of Elections (JNE) is reviewing the challenges before proclaiming a winner nine days after the elections, which counted with more than 70 percent of participants.

Nine days after the presidential runoff in Peru, the winner is still unknown, and tensions are growing in a context in which right-wing politicians are trying to annul the elections because the results give Castillo an advantage.

"Democracy has rules and deadlines that we all must respect," Cardinal Pedro Barreto told local media on Tuesday. He added that the Catholic Church "is available" to mediate to overcome the "painful and frustrating uncertainty" that the country is experiencing.

For her part, Fujimori has requested the nullification of thousands of votes and has denounced fraud, in addition to requesting a "computer audit" to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), while the JNE is reviewing the challenges presented by each side, fundamentally those of the Fuerza Popular candidate, before proclaiming the winner.

Peruvian electoral authorities have warned about the possibility of the count being delayed due to the number of nullity requests presented by the political parties.

"The Plenary of the #JNE deliberated and voted this Monday, June 14, in public session, ten files of observed ballots, corresponding to the Second Round; meanwhile, today Tuesday, June 15, they are reviewing eight more appeals on observed ballots."

This Monday, the resolution of the minutes that were challenged or observed, thus preventing the winner's proclamation because of the adjusted result, was resumed.

According to local media, authorities explained that the process could take up to three more weeks. The most recent update gives Castillo 8,835,073 (50.127 percent) votes to Fujimori's 8,790,257 (49.873 percent).

On Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, expressed her concern about increasing tensions following the electoral contest.

Bachelet urged political and social actors to remain calm and not allow the electoral dispute to end with violent confrontations.

"I am concerned to see how what should be a celebration of democracy is becoming a focus of division, which is creating a growing fracture in Peruvian society, with negative implications for human rights," she argued.