to what appeared to be a tight race. "We expect to have the presidential results, which is what we need to determine the runoff candidates, by around mid-May," said Yessica Clavijo, secretary general of the National Jury of Elections (JNE) -- Peru's highest electoral justice authority -- on radio broadcaster RPP. With 93.4 percent of ballots counted from Sunday's election, right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori was leading with 17 percent. The top two candidates go to a runoff election, and a close race has emerged for a spot in the next round between leftist Roberto Sanchez, who received 12 percent of the vote, and ultra-conservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga, with 11.9 percent.

The gap between the two increased slightly Saturday to 13,600 votes. Clavijo attributed the slow vote count to the review of more than 15,000 challenged ballots, about 30 percent of  which involve the presidential vote and the remainder related to legislative elections. Lopez Aliaga, the former mayor of capital Lima, has emerged as the harshest critic of the vote's delays. He has alleged fraud, without providing evidence, and called for the vote to be annulled. He called on supporters of his Popular Renewal Party to march on Sunday in protest. Sanchez, for his part, also criticized the vote, telling a press conference Saturday: "These serious organizational issues must be investigated and there must be appropriate sanctions." (Bssnews)