Panel Weighs Challenges to Mexico Election

[cal04]

Lawyers for a leftist presidential candidate urged the top electoral court Saturday to order a recount of Mexico's extremely close elections, arguing it would clear up a dispute that has tested the country's young democracy.

The seven-judge panel is weighing 364 challenges to an official count that gave conservative candidate Felipe Calderon a slight advantage over former Mexico City Mayor Manuel Lopez Obrador, who claims the July 2 vote was tainted by fraud and a dirty campaign.

Lopez Obrador summoned his supporters for a demonstration Sunday, promising a record number of people would flood the capital's main square in his third mass protest since the election.

At the first hearing since the election, Lopez Obrador's lawyers argued there were mathematical errors, falsifications or other problems at 72,000 of the country's 130,000 polling places.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5982772,00.html

[eleny]

1. K&R

[Peace Patriot]

2. 1.2 million people last week! Likely will be 2+ million this week!

Awesome!

[mom cat]

8. We need to learn from our neighbors to the south!

[gorbal]

9. Wow, I have heard silence form the press on this front

Of course, violence always gets precidence in the news over peacefull demonstrations, but should it? Are we sending the wrong message if we only cover a large protest if people get hurt?

[Judi Lynn]

3. Great article! Calderon's lawyers present their case today (Sunday).

I hope there's a great anti-election fraud turnout again. They should keep up the pressure until the government does the right thing to clear up any suspicion.

[cal04]

4. hi Judi Lynn

I just posted this article that was in the Scotsman
I want to thank you for all your great posts.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1767856

[Judi Lynn]

5. Thanks for the directions to the other article. It's a good one.

I really appreciate your posts here, beyond all doubt.

Thank you.

[EFerrari]

6. Thank goodness. Take that, BushCO manipulators!

K&R

[Judi Lynn]

7. ABC News: Mexico left takes election protest back to streets

Mexico left takes election protest back to streets
Jul 30, 2006 — By Catherine Bremer

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the left-winger who claims he was robbed of victory in Mexico's contested presidential election, will lead a massive protest rally on Sunday to press for a vote-by-vote recount.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to join the march across Mexico City to its central Zocalo, one of the world's largest squares, where Lopez Obrador will announce details of a civil disobedience campaign to push his cause.

Mexico has been thrust into a political crisis by the election, which saw Lopez Obrador, the former mayor of Mexico City, beaten by ruling party conservative Felipe Calderon by just around 244,000 votes out of 41 million cast.

Lopez Obrador, who campaigned on promises to help Mexico's poor with ambitious welfare and infrastructure programs, is challenging the result before Mexico's highest electoral court. He says he will only accept the result if there is a recount.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2252846

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/07/26/zocalosquare_wideweb__470x308,0.jpg
Inflamed by loss … supporters of Mr Lopez Obrador spell out the words
"vote by vote" during a candlelight protest in Mexico City's Zocalo Square.
Photo: AFP