Obrador Alleges Chicanery in Mexican Vote

[Joanne98]

Obrador Alleges Chicanery in Mexican Vote

Saturday July 8, 2006 7:16 PM


AP Photo MOVC105

By MARK STEVENSON

Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged his supporters to take to the streets Saturday, claiming the governing party stole its victory in a close election that he said was more fraudulent than those held during 71 years of one-party rule.

The protests could mark a turning point in what has so far been a peaceful campaign to succeed Vicente Fox.

In a meeting with foreign correspondents, Lopez Obrador said there were more irregularities in Sunday's balloting than in elections under the Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI, which ruled Mexico until it was ousted by Fox in 2000.

Election officials say Felipe Calderon of Fox's conservative National Action Party beat Lopez Obrador by less than 244,000 votes out of a total of 41 million ballots.

``The National Action Party learned from the fraudulent practices of the PRI and it exceeded them,'' Lopez Obrador said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5938442,00.html

[stepnw1f]

1. Fight, Fight, Fight!!!!

Go get those bastards!!!!

[BillZBubb]

2. I hope the Mexican people take action.

At least their leaders appear ready to defend their rights and not cave.

[marjorieann]

3. Yes

and today, the European Union declares that the vote was fair! Ontop of that, Bush has already called Calderon and congratulated him! BTW, only select ballot boxes in Caldreon's favored districts were actually opened and counted.

We'll see what happens, Marcos has already mobilized a demonstration two days after the election even though he is not in bed with Obrador, who has old ties to the PRI and Carlos Slim. Perhaps the two will mend fences? And we will see what happens today at the demonstration called for by Obrador.

Aye, aye aye !

http://marjorieanndrake.blogspot.com/

[Onlooker]

4. Exactly what John Kerry and Al Gore should have done

"He (Obrador) will never concede defeat. Once the election results are certified, he will open a permanent campaign of criticizing the government."

If our Democratic leaders weren't such wimps, our democracy would be stronger today.

[pberq]

5. hundreds of thousands of votes for him remain uncounted

"Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, has millions of extremely devoted followers and views street protests as an effective means of pressuring the government and the courts. He claims hundreds of thousands of votes for him remain uncounted, miscounted or voided, and that a manual recount would confirm that."

[go west young man]

6. Hopefully Mexico won't roll over and take their royal screwing like we did

here in the U.S.A.

[European Socialist]

7. I hope Obrador will be a Sore/ Loserman that Kerry/Shouldabeen.

[go west young man]

8. Some interesting data here via Narconews.

http://narconews.com/Issue42/article1967.html

[jarnocan]

9. interesting hmmm... exit polls....? Greg Palast's reports

Reuters reports that, as of 8pm eastern time, as voting concluded in Mexico, exit polls showed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the “leftwing” party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) leading in exit polls over Felipe Calderon of the ruling conservative National Action party (PAN).

We’ve said again and again: exit polls tell us how voters say they voted, but the voters can’t tell pollsters whether their vote will be counted.

http://www.gregpalast.com/stealing-it-in-front-of-your-eyes

There’s an echo of the US non-count in the south-of-the-border tally. It’s called “negative drop-off”. In a surprising number of districts in Mexico, the federal electoral commission logged lots of negative drop-off: more votes for lower offices than for president. Did L�� Obrador supporters, en masse, forget to punch in their choice?
Mexico’s Bush-backed ruling party claims it has conducted Mexico’s first truly honest election, though it refuses to count all the ballots...

http://www.gregpalast.com/section/articles

[Joanne98]

11. Very interesting INDEED!

A Full Recount Would Show that López Obrador Won Mexico’s Presidency by More than One Million Votes
The Tip of the Iceberg of the Crimes Committed by Mexican Electoral Authorities Is the Fraudulent Vote Count of 2006


By Al Giordano
Part II of a Special Series for The Narco News Bulletin
July 8, 2006

Commercial Media organizations are reporting that Felipe Calderòn won Sunday’s presidential election by 0.58 percent of the vote and will govern Mexico for the next six years, beginning on December 1.

It would not be the first time that the Commercial Media has been wrong.

Many of those reports have claimed that Wednesday’s first official count of precinct results in Mexico – 130,000 pieces of paper that claim to represent the vote tallies – was a “recount.”

It would not be the first time that lazy “pack journalism” got a major international story wrong.

The truth: No recount occurred on Wednesday, or before, or since. What occurred – we repeat – was only the first official count of precinct tallies.

A Narco News investigation has found that in the small sample of precincts – less than one percent – where a recount was allowed, the shift in numbers away from Calderón was so drastic that, if recounts of all the ballots followed the same trend, the official results would invert and Andrés Manuel López Obrador would become the clear winner of the presidency by more than one million votes:

[Lisa0825]

12. GREAT article!

Thanks for posting!

[Joanne98]

10. Mass protests slated for Mexico

Mexico's leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has refused to concede defeat in the nation's recent election.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/08/world/main1786472.shtml
(AP) Mexico's leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called his supporters onto the streets Saturday to protest his rival's narrow victory in a vote he said was more fraudulent than those held during 71 years of one-party rule.

The nationwide protests, including a rally in Mexico City's famed Zocalo plaza, could mark a turning point in what has so far been a peaceful campaign by the fiery candidate to reverse the apparent triumph of conservative Felipe Calderon.

In a meeting with foreign correspondents Saturday, Lopez Obrador said there were more irregularities in last Sunday's balloting than in elections under the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled Mexico until it was ousted by President Vicente Fox in 2000.

Election officials say Calderon of Fox's National Action Party, beat Lopez Obrador by less than 244,000 votes out of a total 41 million ballots, or a margin of about 0.6 percent.

[cal04]

13. Obrador Supporters Take to Mexico Streets

Thousands of defiant supporters of leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took to the streets Saturday in a bid to overturn his narrow election defeat, launching protests that threatened to widen Mexico's regional and class divisions.

Lopez Obrador called for protests across Mexico, saying last Sunday's elections were more fraudulent than those held during 71 years of one-party rule. European Union election observers have said they had found no major irregularities.

Most of Lopez Obrador's supporters come from poor southern states while conservative Felipe Calderon's strength is in Mexico's industrialized north.

(snip)
``We are never going to recognize this man (Calderon),'' said Apolinario Fernandez, 37, a teacher from Lopez Obrador's home state of Tabasco in the southeast. ``If he wants, let him govern in the north for the rich, but not in the south.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5938717,00.html

[Joanne98]

14. and it just got started......

[Joanne98]

15. kick

[Vidar]

16. Awfully proud of Obrador & the Mexicans!