As part of the investigation into the irregularities of the first round, the local police raided a dozen properties, including the home of the former head of the election organizing body, Piero Corvetto. The judge in the case, however, rejected a request for his arrest. While the scrutiny waits for the observed minutes and the leftist Roberto Sánchez approaches the runoff, the electoral justice ruled out the holding of complementary elections, as requested by the far-right Rafael López Aliaga.

First modification: 04/25/2026 - 01:36Last modification: 04/25/2026 - 02:27

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Peru remains at the mercy of a chaotic first electoral round, which is still waiting for the final results, while investigations continue to determine responsibilities for the failures and delays in the distribution of material, which forced delays in the elections and fueled distrust in the process.

At the request of the Prosecutor's Office and after the approval of Judge Juan Manuel Chuyo, in the early hours of Friday, April 24, the Peruvian Police carried out raids on a dozen properties linked to people investigated for the irregularities registered in the general elections of April 12.

Among the places investigated was the home of Piero Corvetto, former head of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), who resigned from his position on April 21. In doing so, although he defended his work, he acknowledged that the failures prevented him from continuing to lead the organization, alleging that his departure could generate a climate of "greater confidence" among citizens in the face of the second presidential round.

Although prosecutor Raúl Martínez also requested Corvetto's arrest, the judge denied that request, as revealed by his lawyer Ricardo Sánchez Carranza, who highlighted that his client is cooperating with the investigation.

Although Corvetto appeared in the case as a witness, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is now investigating him as a defendant in the alleged crimes of aggravated collusion and omission of functional acts.

Along with him, Juan Antonio Phang, the suspended deputy manager of Electoral Production of the ONPE, is also included in the case; José Samamé Blas, former manager of Electoral Management of the organization, and Juan Charles Alvarado, general manager of the Galaga firm, hired by the ONPE to distribute electoral material.

The raids included the homes of these three men, while the prosecutor ordered the seizure of phones, computers and documents.

Sánchez distances himself from López Aliaga, waiting for observed minutes

In parallel to the ongoing investigations, the provisional scrutiny of the ONPE continues at a slow pace, although with important progress: on Thursday, the organization completed the processing of the regular minutes and was awaiting the resolution on those observed.

With 4,450 minutes sent for review by the special electoral juries, the 95% count shows the right-wing Keiko Fujimori with the 17% that has long ago assured her first place.

In the dispute to reach the second round against the Fuerza Popular candidate, the trend continues to narrowly but constantly favor the leftist Roberto Sánchez, who raised the distance over the far-right Rafael López Aliaga to 20,000 votes.

Driven by the scrutiny of votes from rural areas, which take longer to arrive and favor him, Sánchez is heading to the runoff because, according to various analysts, the votes from the appealed minutes will not be enough to modify the scenario.

In that sense, according to local media, the National Elections Jury (JNE) ordered measures to expedite the processing of the 1,990 minutes sent for vote counting, which has been carried out since April 27, in public hearings and transmitted over the internet.

In this way, the special electoral juries (JEE) that are in charge of carrying out the recounts will have until May 7 to hold the hearings and resolve the challenges.

Electoral justice rules out holding complementary elections

At the same time that the scrutiny does not bring him good news, the far-right López Aliaga received another setback after the JNE declared "unanimously" that his request to organize supplementary elections in Lima, the bastion of the Popular Renewal candidate, is "unviable."

His party and other smaller forces had requested these additional votes, arguing that delays of up to five hours in the opening of some polling stations led many citizens to desist from casting their votes.

In a statement, the JNE indicated that, after a technical and legal analysis and having received reports from the competent bodies, it ruled out the holding of these complementary elections because they are not contemplated in Peruvian legislation and the electoral process has not yet ended, pending the review of more than 4,000 minutes.

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In that sense, the highest electoral entity recalled that the work of reviewing observed minutes, resolving requests for annulment and other actions provided for in the current constitutional, legal and regulatory framework is being carried out "continuously", in order to guarantee "the integrity of the electoral process and unrestricted respect for the popular will expressed at the polls."

Since the night of the elections, López Aliaga has denounced, without firm evidence, an alleged "electoral fraud", which motivated him to request, first, the annulment of the entire electoral process, and then, the holding of complementary elections.

In a press conference after the JNE ruling, the far-right insisted on his demand that the more than 4,000 contested records be annulled and additional votes be carried out because, according to him, "almost a million and a half" people have been prevented from voting, due to the delays on April 12.

"It was easy, it was an extension of the deadline for May 3 and to put everyone out of doubt, but they did not want to, because they are closing themselves, they are taking away absolute legitimacy from a process that is mortally wounded," he emphasized.

With EFE, Reuters and local media

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