LIMA, April 22, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The head of Peru's electoral body resigned from his post Tuesday, hours before he was scheduled to be questioned by prosecutors over the chaotic presidential vote earlier this month.

"I hope that my resignation contributes to fostering a climate of greater confidence in the elections," Piero Corvetto said in a letter addressed to the National Jury of Elections.

His resignation was accepted unanimously by the body.

Peruvians went to the polls on April 12 to choose their ninth president in a decade, with the election dominated by voter anger at a political establishment seen as corrupt and ineffectual in the face of surging crime.

The election day was marred by major logistical problems in the capital Lima, which prevented tens of thousands of people from voting until the following day.

Nine days after voting began, the counting has been delayed by legal challenges.

With nearly 94 percent of the vote counted, none of the dozens of candidates was close to garnering an outright majority needed for victory.

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori emerged the clear winner of the first round but it was not yet clear who she will face in the June 7 runoff.

Ultraconservative former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who is locked a tight race for second place against leftist ex-minister Roberto Sanchez, has alleged election fraud and called for the vote to be annulled.

He has not provided evidence of his fraud claims.

The final results are not expected until mid-May.

Corvetto said he considered it "necessary and urgent" to resign from the Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) so that the second-round election takes place "in a context of greater public trust in the ONPE."