Peruvian elections: Exit poll shows technical tie between four presidential candidates

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Presidential candidates Pedro Castillo, Hernando de Soto, Keiko Fujimori, and Yonhy Lescano were the most voted in the Peruvian elections held this Sunday in Peru, according to an exit poll published just after the polling stations closed, which shows a difference between them that is less than the margin of error.

The sample, carried out by the company Ipsos and published by the channels América and Canal N of the Peruvian television, and which will be the only one published later at night in the country, has a margin of error +/- 3 %.

According to the data, Castillo, from the extreme left and one of the electoral campaign’s surprises, would have obtained 16.1 % of the votes. At the same time, Hernando de Soto and Keiko Fujimori, both from the right, would be equal with 11.9 % of the votes, followed by Yonhy Lescano (center left), with 11 %.

Read: Presidential election – Anyone could be Peru’s next president

With this advance, it is practically certain that Castillo, of the Peru Libre party, will go to the second round of elections next June. It remains to be defined, with the official results in the next few hours, the rival who will face him.

From his native region of Cajamarca, Castillo called for “calm and tranquility of the people”, while his followers set off fireworks and danced in the streets amid great excitement.

“I ask for calm, I ask for tranquility to my people” because “it is true that the people are effervescent, but we have to be respectful with the official data,” he expressed in declarations to América Noticias.

Castillo, a teacher and union leader, added that this “expression of the people” shows that Peruvians “feel the can identify with a person who is born of the same people.”

Read: Tired of politicians, Peruvians skeptical ahead of close presidential election

“If the results are confirmed, I want to thank enormously every one of Peru’s teachers,” concluded the now election favorite.

Also, the Ipsos exit poll revealed a 10.5 % of the vote in favor of the ultra-right candidate Rafael López Aliaga, 8.8 % for the leftist Verónika Mendoza, 6.4 % for the ex-footballer George Forsyth, and 5.8 % for the businessman César Acuña, among a total of 18 candidates to the presidency of Peru.

More than 25 million voters were called to vote in these general elections to elect the president, two vice-presidents, and the new Congress. Still, absenteeism has been evident on the day due to the danger of contagion by covid-19 in a new disease peak.

Source: efe