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Mexico election recount

July 4, 2012

The Democratic Revolution Party candidate has called for a recount after placing second in Mexico's presidential election. He has accused his rivals of buying votes and exceeding campaign spending limits.

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Mexico flag
Image: dapd

The runner-up in Mexico's presidential election called for a ballot recount on Tuesday, after accusing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of buying votes.

Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) garnered 31 percent of the vote on Sunday, seven points behind PRI candidate and apparent victor Enrique Pena Nieto. The PRI dominated Mexican politics for 71 years until it lost the 2000 presidential election.

Lopez Obrador did significantly better than pre-election polling had predicted, leading to accusations that Nieto had used his relationship with the media to manipulate opinion surveys. Nieto reportedly has close ties to Televisa, Mexico's most powerful television broadcaster.

The Associated Press has reported that thousands of Mexicans tried to redeem pre-paid gift cards on Tuesday, which they claimed to have received from the PRI in exchange for their support. There have also been accusations that Nieto exceeded the $330 million (262 million euros) campaign spending limit.

"This is a scandal," Lopez Obrador told a press conference in Mexico City. "They bought millions of votes. Clearly they far exceeded campaign spending limits…this is a national embarrassment."

Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) shows his election ink-stained thumb after casting his vote at a polling station in Mexico City, Sunday, July 1, 2012.
Lopez Obrador has accused his rivals of vote buying. He contested the 2006 election results as well.Image: dapd

Ballot box inconsistencies

Lopez Obrador's campaign chief, Ricardo Monreal, told the same press conference that an investigation by the PRD had found that 113,855 of the 143,000 ballot boxes "had inconsistencies."

"We have presented a formal request on behalf of the (leftist) coalition asking for a recount and counting the votes cast in the 143,000 ballot boxes installed for the presidential elections," Monreal said.

Alfredo Figueroa of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute said that voting irregularities could lead to the recount of votes in as many as 50,000 polling stations, about one-third of the 143,000 in Sunday's vote.

Lopez Obrador previously challenged the results of the 2006 presidential election, which he lost by less than 1 percent to current outgoing conservative President Felipe Calderon. His supporters took to the streets of Mexico City for two months.

Calderon's National Action Party (PAN) and its candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota came in a distant third with 25 percent of the vote on Sunday.

The official results are set to be released on Wednesday.

slk/ccp (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)