Investigated by the justice system and questioned from different sectors, Piero Corvetto announced his resignation as head of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) of Peru. The official considered that his departure is "necessary and cannot be postponed" to guarantee that the presidential runoff is carried out in "a climate of greater confidence." Meanwhile, after a week, the entire country still does not know who will compete in the second presidential round with Keiko Fujimori.

First modification: 04/22/2026 - 01:33

Cornered after the chaotic organization of the general elections in Peru, Piero Corvetto took a predictable exit. The head of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) presented his letter of resignation to the National Board of Justice (JNJ), which accepted it "unanimously."

In his letter, the official stated that "after the operational technical problems raised in the deployment of electoral material" in Lima, his resignation is "necessary and cannot be postponed" to allow the second round of the presidential election to be held in a "context of greater citizen trust" towards the ONPE.

Corvetto was in the eye of the storm due to the failures and delays in the distribution of electoral material in the first round of the general elections, held on April 12. This caused delays of up to five hours in the opening of numerous schools in the capital, while thirteen of them had to postpone the vote to Monday the 13th, an unprecedented decision that affected at least 52,000 citizens.

Added to this were irregularities in the transfer of the votes cast to the warehouses, such as the loss of boxes, cases that later appeared on television programs. These images have sown distrust towards the integrity of the electoral process and have contributed to the far-right candidate Rafael López Aliaga – who disputes the possibility of accessing the runoff – to launch accusations without evidence of fraud.

To display this content from X (Twitter), you must allow audience measurement and advertising cookies.

Corvetto had become the main one pointed out by López Aliaga, who called him a "criminal" and "traitor", and has come to demand, first, the annulment of the elections and, then, the holding of a complementary vote in Lima.

Although in his letter he defended having "fulfilled with integrity" the function for which he was appointed in 2020, Corvetto insisted that the problems that occurred on Election Day constitute a situation that prevents him from continuing in office.

"As a public servant, it is not enough to act in accordance with the law (...) the most important thing is that (...) I can contribute to democratic stability and the better future of my country. And, at this juncture, I am not in a position to offer that to my country," he expressed.

Aside from public criticism, the now former head of the ONPE and three other officials of the organization face a preliminary investigation by Justice for the alleged crime of collusion to the detriment of the State, added to other investigations such as those carried out by the JNJ and the National Elections Jury (JNE).

Corvetto reiterated his "total and entire availability" to collaborate with the investigations and this Tuesday, as he had stated the day before, he approached the Prosecutor's Office to hand over his passport and provide information voluntarily.

Read alsoPeru begins an unprecedented public recount of the minutes observed, with the runoff race in suspense

Peru, waiting to know the participants in the runoff

Corvetto's resignation comes when Peru still does not know the opponent of the right-wing Keiko Fujimori in the second electoral round. In light of a provisional scrutiny that is progressing in dribs and drabs and in the midst of the counting of votes from observed minutes, the leftist Roberto Sánchez (Together for Peru) and the far-right López Aliaga (Renovación Popular) maintain their pulse to advance to the runoff.

With almost 94% of the minutes counted, the ONPE data keeps Fujimori at the top, with 17%, followed by Sánchez, who adds 12.01%, and López Aliaga, with 11.91%. In the last 24 hours, the candidate from Together for Peru has very slightly expanded his advantage in second place over the candidate from Renovación Popular, to just over 15,000 votes.

In parallel, this Tuesday the unprecedented recount of the physical votes corresponding to the tables whose results were appealed continued. According to JNE data, there are already 994 minutes sent for this mechanism, which is applied for the first time in the history of Peru and whose development would extend until mid-May.

Between Monday and Tuesday, a total of twelve tables corresponding to districts in the Junín and Piura regions were reviewed, which had been challenged because the number of voters exceeded the number of cards found in the polls.

According to what was learned from the public hearings, which are broadcast live over the Internet, in five of those tables, Fujimori was the candidate with the most votes, while Sánchez won in another five – and was the second most voted in another three.

In each of the remaining two elections, the centrist Jorge Nieto (fourth in the provisional vote) and the leftist Alfonso López-Chau won, respectively.

At the moment, in the revised minutes, López Aliaga's best performance was third place at a table in Piura.

Read alsoPeru's electoral court announces a recount of 106 minutes of the presidential election

Sánchez calls López Aliaga a "bad loser"

Even without knowing if he will be Keiko Fujimori's opponent in the second electoral round, Roberto Sánchez resumed his campaign this Tuesday, April 22, with a visit to the Ciudad de Dios market, in the populous district of San Juan de Miraflores, in the south of Lima.

On his tour, he shared a breakfast and talked with citizens and merchants, although his departure became tense and hurried when some people began to yell at him and even throw some objects.

In a subsequent press conference, the leftist candidate – who wears the same hat as the imprisoned former president Pedro Castillo, whose figure he claims – dismissed the suspicions of electoral fraud raised by Rafael López Aliaga, whom he called a "bad loser."

"Where are the elements to say that there is fraud? What happens is that you are bad losers, what happens is that you do not accept your defeat. Friends in your own environment have already said it, that there are problems of psychological imbalance, that there are problems of integrity," said Sánchez about the far-right candidate.

In response to López Aliaga's latest public appearances – in which he reiterated complaints without solid evidence of electoral fraud and insulted and threatened electoral authorities –, Sánchez pointed out that Peruvian society should not "tolerate so many recurring and permanent grievances" without consequences for the leader of the ultra-conservative Popular Renewal party.

"Mr. López Aliaga only knows how to insult, denigrate, despise, discriminate," said the former minister during Castillo's brief government, while accusing López Aliaga of despising the vote of rural areas and the southern Andean region, predominantly inclined to Sánchez.

Regarding the far-right's request to call complementary elections in the voting centers that opened late in Lima, Sánchez considered that this initiative is "whimsical, biased, it has no legal basis, it is not constitutional."

Although he reiterated that there were "very serious and serious" problems in the organization of the first round, the leftist affirmed that this did not imply that Peruvians were left without voting, so the idea of ​​​​holding complementary elections "responds to an individual desire when you know that you are losing and you do not have the ability to demonstrate with due process the minutes, the vote and the table number."

Read alsoEU electoral mission dismisses allegations of fraud in elections in Peru

With EFE and local media

Related keywords

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.