Peru’s presidential vote tightens; Kuczynski’s lead narrows

Peru’s presidential election tightened in the latest tally of votes on Tuesday as former investment banker Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s lead over Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of an ex-president, narrowed to 0.3 percentage points.

With nearly 97 percent of ballots processed, Kuczynski won 50.15 percent compared to Fujimori’s 49.85 – a difference of some 50,000 votes, according to Peruvian electoral office ONPE.

Votes from Peruvians living abroad that were starting to be counted could decide the outcome.

Preliminary results on Sunday and quick counts of sample ballots by reputable polling firms put Kuczynski ahead by about one percentage point.

Fujimori had been the favorite to win Sunday’s election, but Kuczynski caught up with her in final opinion polls as Peruvians weighed the legacy of her father Alberto Fujimori, who was convicted of corruption and human rights abuse, and scandals involving her own close advisers.

Both candidates have promised policies that would be largely favorable to investors in the mineral-rich Andean nation.