Peru presidential race tightens

Peru’s presidential election race is tightening a month ahead of a run-off vote in June, with socialist Pedro Castillo still ahead, while pollsters say the key battles are in poor, rural regions and in convincing a large group of undecided voters.

Frontrunner Castillo, a schoolteacher largely unknown to most Peruvians prior to the April first-round vote, garnered 43% of voting intentions in the poll, while Keiko Fujimori took 34%, according to pollster Ipsos Peru.

Fujimori, in her third candidacy for president of Peru, has closed the gap by two percentage points versus a similar poll by Ipsos two weeks prior. Another recent poll by Datum International also showed a tightening race.

Socialist Castillo’s support is strongest in the poorest regions of Peru, and ranges between 46% and 60%, the poll showed, while Fujimori polls strongest in the richest, but less populous, areas of the country.

“The great battle will be there, in the poorest socio-economic sectors,” Alfredo Torres, chief executive of Ipsos Peru, said in a television interview.

via Reuters