Poll shows favorite Castillo drop and Fujimori rise in Peru’s presidential runoff

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A new poll this Sunday, May 9, showed the decline of presidential candidate Pedro Castillo to 36.2% of voting intentions and the increase to 30% in favor of presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, in the upcoming second round of the presidential elections in Peru.

The Institute of Peruvian Studies (IEP) survey revealed that the voting intentions in favor of the ultra-leftist Castillo lost five percentage points in May compared to the previous month, after the debate in the city of Chota.

Meanwhile, right-wing Fujimori increased 8.5 percentage points in May after adding support from other conservative parties and resuming an intense campaign agenda.

The percentage of undecided voters has also dropped this month to 8.6%, five points less than in April, but the percentage of voters who will vote blank or are undecided remains at 21%, according to the survey published by the newspaper La República.

Blank or spoiled ballot voters are mainly in the age group between 18 and 24 years old (28.9%), those between 25 and 39 years old (26.7%), and the middle socioeconomic sector with 24.8%.

The regions that mostly support Castillo are the south with 45.9% and the Amazonian east with 42.3%. In comparison, Fujimori is followed in Lima by 41.7%, the region, and city that concentrates a third of the national electorate.

Regarding the first debate held in the city of Chota, the region of Castillo’s birth, 41% affirmed that the Popular Force candidate won the debate. In comparison, 37% said that Peru Libre’s candidate Fujimori did.

Regarding who presented the best proposals, both candidates are equal at 39%, but 44% affirm that Castillo offers them more confidence.

The daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) could be a better manager on the issue of the pandemic for 47% and also in overcoming the economic crisis (46%), while Castillo is considered a better option in the fight against corruption (58%) and in advancing education (56%).

The IEP survey was applied between May 3 and 6 to a sample of 1,218 people at national level, with a margin of error of 2.8% plus or minus and a confidence level of 95 %.