Peru police raid ex-election chief’s home as ballot shortages spark a widening probe

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian police on Friday raided the home of the former head of Peru’s national election agency, who resigned earlier this week as he and other officials are under investigation over the shortage of ballots and other irregularities encountered during the first round of the presidential election on April 12.

The anti-corruption police announced on social media that agents and prosecutors raided the homes of Piero Corvetto, several former electoral officials, and the legal representative of Galaga, the company responsible for transporting election ballots to voting centers across the capital, Lima.

In a letter sent to Peruvian authorities, Corvetto denied any wrongdoing but said the problems encountered during the election prompted him to resign in order to “generate more confidence” in a runoff vote that will be held June 7.

Corvetto’s lawyer, Ricardo Sánchez, told a local radio station that Judge Manuel Chuyo ordered the raid but rejected a prosecutorial request to take his client into custody.

The April 12 election had to be extended for an additional day after the agency failed to deliver voting materials to more than a dozen centers in Lima, a problem that prevented more than 52,000 people from casting their ballots on time.

The incident sparked criticism, most notably from the ultraconservative candidate Rafael López Aliaga who claimed, without providing evidence, that an “electoral fraud unique in the world” occurred in Peru, while labeling Corvetto a “criminal” and vowing to pursue him “until he dies.”

An electoral mission from the European Union urged political actors to refrain from violent rhetoric and has ruled out any indications of fraud.

With 95.1% of the ballots tallied, Keiko Fujimori, the conservative daughter of disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori, was leading the vote count on Friday with 17.05%, followed by nationalist Roberto Sánchez with 12.03%, and López Aliaga with 11.90%.

Peru’s electoral tribunal announced a May 15 deadline to officially declare the two candidates advancing to the presidential runoff.

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