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July 6, 2006

Mexican poll workers began a lengthy recount of vote tallies Wednesday in the contested Mexican presidential election.

Both leading Mexican presidential candidates, Andr�s Manuel L�pez Obrador and Felipe Calder�n have proclaimed victory in the Mexican Presidential race despite notice from Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) that the numbers are currently too close to determine the winner.

In a live televised speech, L�pez Obrador claimed victory by approximately 500,000 votes. Calder�n has also claimed victory after revealing his own exit polls by GEA-ISA. With as many as three million ballots uncounted on Tuesday, Calder�n held a lead of less than than 400,000 votes. By Thursday morning, with 98% of the vote tallies recounted, Calder�n had a slight lead of less than one percent over L�pez Obrador.

L�pez Obrador has called for a full vote-by-vote recount after the president of the IFE, Luis Carlos Ugalde, said on national television that the preliminary count could not be used to call the race, and that more than three million votes had not been counted yet. Ugalde has said that those votes were valid, as they were not illegible or reached late.

Questions were raised about the vote count after discrepancies were noticed in the counting. While some of L�pez Obrador's supporters have alleged manipulation of the counting process, L�pez Obrador himself has discounted the possibility of outright fraud and international election observers have said that the election was transparent and largely free of problems.

The interior minister, Carlos Abascal, has said that a total recount is "physically impossible and also legally impossible." However, reports from every voting booth filled by representatives of all parties have already been distributed to the contenders; Mexican Law states that packages containing ballots can only be opened when there are inconsistencies between the report and figures captured on the electoral system.

In accordance with Mexican electoral law, workers were counting the tallies attached to ballot boxes at polling stations, but were not opening properly sealed and tallied ballot boxes.

Once the final count is complete, Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal of seven judges can hear complaints and consider overturning the election. It must declare a winner by September 6.

Sources

• James C. McKinley Jr. and Ginger Thompson (New York Times) "Vote recount demanded in Mexican election". International Herald Tribune, July 5, 2006
• Kieran Murray and Alistair Bell "Mexico in election cliffhanger, rivals claim win". Reuters, Jul 3, 2006
• "Aplaza IFE hasta el mi�rcoles definici�n de elecci�n presidencial". El Universal, July 2, 2006
• "No es posible determinar ganador". Reforma, July 2, 2006

• "Conservative takes thin lead in Mexico race". MSNBC, July 5, 2006