LIMA, Peru (AP) — The head of Peru’s national election agency resigned Tuesday over logistical problems that have affected the nation’s bitterly disputed presidential election, a contest for which officials still have not named the winners more than a week after voting took place.
In a letter sent to Peruvian authorities, Piero Corvetto denied any wrongdoing but said the problems encountered during the April 12 election prompted him to resign in order to “generate more confidence” in a runoff vote that will be held June 7.
More than 30 candidates participated in Peru’s presidential election on April 12 as well as hundreds of others running for congressional seats.
The election had to be extended for an additional day, after the agency failed to deliver voting materials to more than a dozen centers in Lima, a problem that prevented more than 52,000 people from casting their ballots on time.
Officials in Peru are still counting votes and sifting through tally sheets that are arriving from remote areas and Peruvian consulates abroad.
A runoff between the top two contenders will be held in June because none of the candidates was able to get more than 50% of the votes.
With 93.8% of votes counted, conservative leader Keiko Fujimori is leading the election with 17.04% of the vote, and looks almost certain to enter the June runoff.
Roberto Sánchez, a nationalist congressman and former minister under imprisoned ex-President Pedro Castillo, who has promised to partially nationalize Peru’s natural resources is in second place so far with 12.01% of the votes, but is closely followed by the ultraconservative former mayor of Lima, Rafael López Aliaga, with 11.91% of the votes.
López Aliaga has challenged the partial results of the election saying, without providing any evidence, that a “gigantic fraud” was committed by Peruvian officials, and calling for a “complementary” election, in which hundreds of thousands of Peruvians who did not cast their ballots on April 12 can participate.
An electoral observation mission sent to Peru by the European Union said last week that while the election faced logistical problems, it did not find any evidence of a fraudulent vote count.
On Monday, Peru’s electoral tribunal set a May 15 deadline for officials to finish counting votes and name the candidates advancing to the second round in the nation’s highly contested presidential election.
The winner will be Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years and will replace José María Balcázar, who was elected interim president in February. He replaced another interim leader who was ousted over corruption allegations just four months into his term.
