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Partial recount of votes starts in Mexico's contested election
AFP
MEXICO CITY
Petroleumworld.com 08 10 06A partial recount of votes cast in last month's presidential election in Mexico began on Wednesday to determine who won the closely contested race as supporters of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador kept up protests alleging electoral fraud.
Election officials launched the review of nine percent of votes from the July 2 election at polling districts in 26 of Mexico's 32 states under the supervision of 192 judges and representatives of political parties.
Officials have set a Sunday deadline to complete the recount, and until August 31 to resolve all pending questions. A president-elect must be named by September 6 and assume office on December 1.
Based on initial results, conservative National Action Party (PAN) candidate Felipe Calderon won by a mere 0.58 percent of the vote. But his opponent, Lopez Obrador, has refused to concede defeat and alleged the election was marked by widespread fraud.
Leading a campaign of street demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience, Lopez Obrador and his Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) have demanded a full recount of all 41.7 million votes cast.
But Mexico's electoral tribunal on Saturday rejected Lopez Obrador's recount petition, instead ruling for the partial recount at polling stations where it believed there were possible irregularities.
The tribunal's decision disappointed Lopez Obrador's backers, who said Wednesday they would continue their protest campaign demanding a complete recount.
"We come with the intention of showing that the votes in favor of our candidate were lost and to convince the electoral tribunal that it must recount the remaining ballots," said Miguel Moreno, of Lopez Obrador's PRD, in one of the districts where the review was underway.
Most of the polling districts affected by the recount were won by Calderon based on initial results but PRD leaders say there were irregularities in how ballots were tallied.
As the recount got underway, supporters of Lopez Obrador blocked the offices of three foreign banks Wednesday in the latest protest against alleged electoral fraud.
Lopez Obrador loyalists held the protest at downtown branches of British bank
HSBC, Banamex -- owned by the US giant Citigroup -- and Spain's BBVA-Bancomer.
The action was part of a peaceful civil resistance campaign, said Jose Guadalupe Curiel, a top official with Lopez Obrador's PRD.
The move came a day after PRD supporters took over three key toll booths in Mexico's capital for several hours, allowing cars to pass without paying.
Thousands of Lopez Obrador supporters have been camped out in Mexico City for the past ten days, blocking some eight kilometers (five miles) of the city's main avenue and preventing access to much of the city's historic and financial downtown area.
As for Calderon, he has chosen not to respond to attacks by his leftist rival and instead has operated as if he was already proclaimed the new president, holding numerous meetings with representatives from all sectors of society. To avoid aggravating the tense political climate, he also called off planned trips to the United States and Chile.
AFP 09 2356 GMT 08 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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