Peru will reveal the final result of its razor-thin presidential runoff on July 3, election authorities said Friday, with current tallies giving conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori an unassailable lead.
The election has been one of the tightest Latin American contests in decades, with crime and political instability dominating a race to choose the country's ninth leader in a decade.
"We can now say with complete confidence that the final declaration of the runoff results will not go beyond July 3," said election chief Roberto Burneo.
With 99.88 percent of the ballots counted, Fujimori had secured more than 44,500 votes over her leftist rival Roberto Sanchez.
Since only 33,300 ballots remain to be tallied, it is now impossible for Sanchez to get ahead.
The winner will be recognized as the country's next leader at Lima's National Theater on July 15, Burneo said.
Fujimori's victory would mark the return of her family name to power, more than two decades after the fall of her father, former president Alberto Fujimori.
He led Peru through the turbulent 1990s, crushing Maoist Shining Path rebels and taming hyperinflation but was later disgraced, exiled and jailed for corruption and crimes against humanity.
Sanchez has said he would not recognize a government headed by Fujimori, alleging administrative irregularities in the handling of the overseas portion of the vote.
The winner will replace interim president Jose Maria Balcazar on July 28 for a five-year term.
