By Marco Aquino
LIMA, April 17 (Reuters) - Calls to remove the head of Peru's electoral authority intensified on Friday as delays and alleged irregularities clouded the presidential vote count, with no clear challenger emerging to face conservative frontrunner Keiko Fujimori in a June runoff.
Pressure has mounted on Peru's National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) head, Piero Corvetto, as complaints over errors and logistical problems during the April 12 election have been compounded by a slow
tally that has rattled investor confidence and heightened uncertainty.
According to the ONPE, leftist Roberto Sanchez and ultraconservative former Lima mayor, Rafael Lopez Aliaga, remain locked in a close battle for second place, separated by about 13,000 votes as of Friday.
With 93.3% of ballots counted, Sanchez held 12.0% of the vote and Lopez Aliaga 11.9%, while Fujimori remained firmly in first place with 17%, positioning her for the runoff. Final results could take up to two weeks, according to local election-monitoring group Transparencia.
The vote counting has been further delayed by roughly 5% of ballots that were identified for review due to missing information or errors in polling station records, ONPE data showed. Those ballots will be reviewed by a special electoral jury before being included in the final count, officials said.
Business leaders and lawmakers from across the political spectrum have called on Corvetto to step down, arguing that a replacement should oversee the second round.
"Errors this serious have consequences," Jorge Zapata, head of business chamber CONFIEP, told local radio station RPP.
Earlier this week Corvetto acknowledged there had been some logistical delays that forced voting to be extended by a day, mainly in Lima. Those delays triggered fraud allegations, notably from Lopez Aliaga, who has called for counting to be suspended. Corvetto has denied any irregularities took place.
Even so, Peru's top electoral court, the National Jury of Elections, filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors against Corvetto, citing alleged offenses including violations of voting rights. Representatives for Corvetto did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
A police investigation is also underway after materials from four polling stations were found on a public road in Lima on Thursday, the police said. ONPE said on X that the votes from those stations had already been recorded for counting.
European Union election observers said this week they found no evidence of fraud.
INVESTOR FEARS TEMPERED
Sanchez's rise to second place had raised concerns among investors over his pledge to rewrite the constitution and calls for greater state control over natural resources.
Those fears have been partially tempered by projections and partial results showing that Peru's next Congress, to be elected for the 2026–2031 term, is likely to tilt toward right-leaning parties, limiting the scope for radical economic changes.
The sol currency was little changed by midday on Friday, while Lima's benchmark stock index rose 0.4%.
Peru has endured prolonged political volatility, cycling through eight presidents in the past decade, although its economy remains among the most stable in Latin America.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino. Writing by Lucinda Elliott. Editing by Daina Solomon and Rosalba O'Brien)
