Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Peru's Electoral Tribunal in Lima on Tuesday, demanding a rerun of the country's presidential election after voting disruptions and a prolonged ballot count fuelled accusations of irregularities. The demonstrations mark a significant escalation of tensions following Sunday's first-round vote, which remains unresolved as counting entered its third day.

The electoral process was disrupted from the outset when delivery failures prevented some voters from participating on election day. Authorities responded by allowing more than 52,000 affected citizens to cast their ballots on Monday — a measure that, while aimed at upholding Peru's mandatory voting rules for its more than 27 million eligible citizens, further delayed an already slow count. With 77 per cent of ballots tallied, former congresswoman Keiko Fujimori — daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori and a veteran of multiple presidential contests — leads with 16.86 per cent, followed by Rafael López Aliaga and Jorge Nieto in what is shaping up to be a highly competitive race.

López Aliaga, a conservative businessman and mayor of Lima, has been among the loudest voices challenging the process. His supporters have called for the resignation of electoral chief Piero Corvetto and raised concerns about the handling of postal ballots, alleging the vote lacks integrity. However, an observer mission from the European Union stated it had found no evidence of fraud, lending credibility to the official process and pushing back against claims of widespread irregularities.

The delays, while frustrating to many Peruvians, are not without precedent. The 2021 presidential election — in which leftist Pedro Castillo narrowly defeated Keiko Fujimori — took five days to produce a result and was similarly mired in dispute. Electoral authorities are now expected to confirm a runoff between the top two candidates, tentatively scheduled for around 7 June.

The unfolding dispute matters well beyond Peru's borders. The country, South America's sixth-largest economy and a major copper producer, has experienced significant political instability in recent years, cycling through multiple presidents and a failed self-coup by Castillo in 2022. A contested or delegitimised election result risks deepening that instability at a moment when the country is seeking a more settled democratic path forward.