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Agents and prosecutors also raided the home of the legal
representative of Galaga, a private company responsible for
transporting election ballots to voting centers, anti-corruption
police said on social media. Agents gathered mobile phones,
documents and other evidence in the raids, police said.
Piero Corvetto resigned as the elections agency chief on Tuesday
to take responsibility for the election shortcomings, and said
in a letter to authorities that he was stepping down to
“generate more confidence” in the runoff vote on June 7.
But Corvetto denied any wrongdoing.
Corvetto’s lawyer, Ricardo Sánchez, told a local radio station
that Judge Manuel Chuyo had ordered the raid but rejected a
prosecutorial request to take his client into custody.
The April 12 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.
The incident sparked criticism, most notably from the
ultraconservative candidate Rafael López Aliaga who claimed,
without providing evidence, that an “electoral fraud unique in
the world” occurred in Peru, while labeling Corvetto a
“criminal” and vowing to pursue him “until he dies.”
An electoral mission from the European Union urged political
actors to refrain from violent rhetoric and has ruled out any
indications of fraud.
With 95.1% of the ballots tallied, Keiko Fujimori, the
conservative daughter of disgraced former President Alberto
Fujimori, was leading the vote count on Friday with 17.05%,
followed by nationalist Roberto Sánchez with 12.03%, and López
Aliaga with 11.90%.
The Electoral Tribunal on Friday rejected demands for
supplementary elections at polling stations affected by the
logistical failures, labeling the move “unfeasible.” Though the
request was spearheaded by López Aliaga and backed by Fujimori
as “reasonable,” the tribunal urged all parties to act
“responsibly,” reminding them that the electoral process has not
concluded.
Peru’s electoral tribunal has announced a May 15 deadline to
officially declare which two candidates will advance to the
presidential runoff.
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