A week after holding chaotic presidential and congressional elections, Peruvians are still waiting for the final results. The vote took place amid deep public frustration over crime and corruption, and it follows a decade of political instability in which Peru has cycled through eight presidents. Regardless of the electoral outcome, this ballot looks likely to entrench public discontent while failing to assuage political tensions.

The electoral process was messy. Ballot materials arrived late to several polling stations on election day, 12 April, leaving over 50,000 people unable to vote, mainly in the capital Lima and overseas. Peru’s electoral court extended polling into the next day for those affected, while continuing to count and release partial tallies all the while. But counting has moved at a snail’s pace, and final results are not expected until mid-May, just weeks before a scheduled presidential runoff on 7 June. The two-day election remained peaceful despite the problems, with no reported evidence of fraud. 

So far, one presidential candidate has secured a place in the second round, while the two closest competitors are separated by roughly 14,700 votes. Keiko Fujimori, daughter of deceased authoritarian President Alberto Fujimori and a former congresswoman from the right-wing Fuerza Popular party, finished first among 35 candidates, the largest field of contenders in the country’s history.

Close behind are left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez, who presents himself as the political heir to the imprisoned former President Pedro Castillo, and the ultra-conservative former Lima mayor, Rafael López Aliaga. A Fujimori-Sánchez contest would revive Peru’s familiar left-right battle lines. A Fujimori-López Aliaga race, on the other hand, would pit two figures from the right against each other, leaving large segments of rural and Indigenous Peru unrepresented in the second round. Disputes have already arisen over the vote, with López Aliaga urging protests and demanding a rerun of voting at those polling stations where voting was late.

Peru’s political conflict had declined in intensity from its peak in 2022-2023, when mass protests and a crackdown paralysed the country. But all the causes of instability remain intact. Despite the country’s steady economic growth, Peruvians have little trust in their political leaders’ readiness to address stark social inequalities, corruption and the failings of state institutions. Populist firebrands of all persuasions are best equipped to capture aggrieved voters at election time. The poorly managed vote and the polarised political landscape could well shape the prospects of the next government, with public frustration threatening to spill over into unrest while opponents seek to thwart or oust the president. 

In this respect, congressional election results may matter more than the presidential contest. The legislature is the real centre of power and has removed four heads of state in the last decade. The next president is unlikely to wield a majority, meaning that he or she will govern from a position of weakness. Even when the election outcome is known, the divisions on display in this vote are sure to leave their mark on Peru’s new government.