Unofficial presidential ballot counts places Peru at an intense position

The presidential election in Peru on Sunday night was at a tipping point, with early unofficial counts separating the socialist and conservative candidates by a sharp margin.

A quick count of the votes with an error margin of 1 percent led the left-wing presidential candidate Pedro Castillo, a primary school teacher and novice politician, by 0.4 percentage points.

A previous exit poll by Ipsos, with a higher error margin of 3 percent, increased Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, by 0.6 percentage points.

"It's still a statistical draw," said Alfredo Torres, director of Ipsos Peru, after the unofficial score was announced. "There may be changes."

The new results have immediate celebrations of 'we won!' in Tacabamba, the Andes city closest to the impoverished village where Castillo was born and bred, where he also waits for the results.

The tough race could lead to days of uncertainty as to the official score drops, and it could cause social unrest if disillusioned supporters of one of the candidates question the results.

Castillo had earlier called his supporters on the street after the exit level slashed his rival Fujimori.

"I ask our people to defend every vote," Castillo wrote on Twitter. "I call on Peruvian people from all corners of the country to take to the streets in peace to be vigilant in defending democracy."

Before the quick count, Castillo spoke to the crowd in Tacabamba via a megaphone and called for peace.

"We must be wise; the people are wise," said the 51-year-old teacher who promised to redistribute wealth and rewrite the constitution. "What we have heard is not official."

Fujimori said he was sticking to the official results and also called for "caution, calm and peace from both groups, those who voted for us and did not vote".

Millions voted Sunday to choose between two candidates who espouse the conflicting ideologies in a run-off election that has deeply divided voters in the classical and geographical areas.

Opinion polls up to election day show a statistical heat, with Fujimori, who followed Castillo earlier, slightly ahead at the end of the campaign.

Both promised many different remedies to save Peru from the economic hardship brought about by the COVID-19 crisis. The Andean country has the worst coronavirus mortality rate in the world, with more than 184,000 people dying from small of its 33 million population. Two million Peruvians also lost their employment during the pandemic, and almost a 3rd of the nation is now under poverty, according to official numbers.

Fujimori, 46, promised to follow the free market model and maintain economic stability, while Castillo, 51, promised to draft the country's constitution to strengthen the role of the state, a larger share of profits from mining firms to take and nationalize the key industries - Peru is the second-largest producer of copper in the world.

"Everyone is ready," she said. Castillo and Fujimori's side are vigilant about what happens to the vote count. It's a very tough race and people are very anxious here."

Earlier on Sunday, in the Lima district of Surco, Fujimori noted that a handful of allegations of doctoral ballots had been discovered in the capital and interior of the country.