THIS IS UPDATED WITH MORE DISCUSSION OF THE RECOUNT ORDERED FOR 11,839 POLLING STATIONS OUT OF 130,000+ (9.07% OF POLLING STATIONS).
Keep glued. This is big news -- the federal electoral court of Mexico has ordered a recount in almost 10% of polling stations in 26 different states.
Yeah, and somebody maybe call the US media, so that they might cover something so important to 106,000,000 just south of us.
A tense day for those awaiting news on Mexico's presidential election. Millions of liberal supporters have turned out for protests in Mexico City's downtown demanding a full hand recount of the paper ballots, and since last Sunday thousands have been camping out in the downtown area in the "Permanent Assembly", raising tensions for many who have had to navigate other routes around blocked main thoroughfares.
Today the TEPJF (special electoral court) has announced that it will be ruling on the recount, and a recent report in El Universal newspaper holds that sources near the court suggest they will rule for a partial recount of some 10,500 polling stations ("casillas"), though at this moment this is only a report and the live streaming audio of the court hearing keeps skipping due to the high listener count.
A special electoral court empowered by the Mexican Political Constitution is reviewing hundreds of specific challenges to the presidential vote process and count launched by the liberal Por el Bien de Todos (For the Common Good) coalition candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO for short) against the body in charge of overseeing campaigns and the count, the IFE. Meanwhile conservative candidate and current count leader (by 0.58%) Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and its party also await the court's pronouncements.
AMLO and the protesters have said that no decision short of a full recount would satisfy them. AMLO has announced a public meeting for 7pm local time (8pm eastern), which is also the time for the court to conclude its day of hearing.
The court has announced that the other issues may not be resolved by it until 31 August, and the actual certification of the presidential election until the 1st of September.
Please, please add updates & comments, I will be out & working much of the day.
´Democracy at risk,´ says López Obrador
El Universal
Sábado 05 de agosto de 2006
Miami Herald, página 1
http://www.mexiconews.com.mx/...
The Federal Electoral Tribunal (Trife) must consider the best interests of the nation as a whole and the demands of "millions of Mexican women and men" who have demanded a full recount of the July 2 presidential votes, said Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador Friday
The Federal Electoral Tribunal (Trife) must consider the best interests of the nation as a whole and the demands of "millions of Mexican women and men" who have demanded a full recount of the July 2 presidential votes, said Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador Friday.
Speaking to supporters in Mexico City´s central plaza, the Zócalo, on Friday, hours after the Trife announced a public session Saturday to consider a full or partial recount, López Obrador also said the seven judges have the responsibility to lend "transparency to the presidential election."
"Our democracy is at risk," López Obrador said. "Millions of women and men who have freely and conscientiously joined this movement understand that."
He also repeated his contention that only a full recount will ensure political and economic stability and avoid an ongoing lack of confidence in the legitimacy of the next president.
"To put an end to money triumphing over the moral dignity of the people, (there must be) a vote-by-vote recount," he said.
"The Tribunal can´t fail to take advantage of this historic opportunity to become the first national institution in our times to fully honor the integrity and decorum that should distinguish public servants."
Trife set for public session
By Tracy Carl
El Universal
Sábado 05 de agosto de 2006
Miami Herald, página 1
The electoral court will begin deliberations on Saturday and is expected to begin issuing rulings on fraud complaints.
The Federal Electoral Tribunal (Trife) begins ruling Saturday on dozens of fraud complaints from the disputed July 2 presidential election and will mull requests for a full recount that have prompted thousands of activists to set up protest camps in the heart of the capital.
In its first public session, the tribunal´s seven judges will give this divided nation its first glimpse of how they plan to deal with left-leaning candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador´s allegations of widespread fraud and dirty campaign practices.
López Obrador, who stepped down as Mexico City mayor to run for president, is demanding a ballot-by-ballot recount that he says will show he was the race´s true winner.
Official tallies gave ruling party candidate Felipe Calderón, a former energy secretary, an advantage of less than 0.6 percent, or about 240,000 votes out of more than 41 million cast.
The tribunal has until Sept. 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the elections entirely.
Its judges will begin by ruling on 174 allegations of fraud filed by López Obrador´s lawyers. Those rulings will likely determine whether they will order a full or partial recount.
PROTEST CAMPS
Supporters of López Obrador have seized control of Mexico City´s cultural and financial heart, setting up protest camps on the elegant Reforma Avenue and in the city´s main Zócalo plaza and snarling traffic for nearly a week.
Braving violent, nearly nightly rainstorms and even flooding, they say they won´t leave until the tribunal rules on their demands for a recount.
Gerardo Fernández Noroña, a spokesman for López Obrador´s Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), said he expected the court to decide on the party´s request for a recount sometime before Monday, but he added that party officials didn´t have any indication of how the court would rule.
He warned against a partial recount, arguing a full recount was the only way to put an end to allegations of fraud and questions about the electoral system.
PAN OPPOSES RECOUNT
Calderón says he believes the elections were clean and fair, and argues that a recount would violate a law that allows polling place results to be reopened only when there is evidence of irregularities.
López Obrador´s party won a small victory Monday when the tribunal voted unanimously to consider a possible recount.
But it dealt an apparent blow to the candidate´s "shotgun strategy" of citing thousands of irregularities at the 130,000 polling places, saying it would not roll all the legal challenges into a single case, but would consider each on its own merits.
The race was the closest presidential contest in Mexican history, dividing the nation along class and social lines.
CLASS DIVISIONS
López Obrador has promised to govern for the poor, while Calderón has the backing of the growing middle and elite classes, many of whom want to protect the new homes and cars they have been able to purchase with falling interest rates.
María Elena de Mesa Sánchez, a 59-year-old preschool teacher and one of several thousand López Obrador supporters living in protest camps, cautiously welcomed Saturday´s public session, but complained about the court´s "slowness, given the national unrest caused by the election´s irregularities."
Many have begun to question the electoral system, held up to the world as a model for emerging democracies after President Vicente Fox´s historic victory in 2000 ended 71 years of one-party rule.
Electoral officials have defended their work, and most observers said the vote was fair.
But de Mesa isn´t convinced.
"I hope that they don´t let me down," she said of the tribunal´s seven judges. "I´m waiting for a response that will satisfy the people."
The electoral court will begin deliberations on Saturday and is expected to begin issuing rulings on fraud complaints.
The Federal Electoral Tribunal (Trife) begins ruling Saturday on dozens of fraud complaints from the disputed July 2 presidential election and will mull requests for a full recount that have prompted thousands of activists to set up protest camps in the heart of the capital.
In its first public session, the tribunal´s seven judges will give this divided nation its first glimpse of how they plan to deal with left-leaning candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador´s allegations of widespread fraud and dirty campaign practices.
López Obrador, who stepped down as Mexico City mayor to run for president, is demanding a ballot-by-ballot recount that he says will show he was the race´s true winner.
Official tallies gave ruling party candidate Felipe Calderón, a former energy secretary, an advantage of less than 0.6 percent, or about 240,000 votes out of more than 41 million cast.
The tribunal has until Sept. 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the elections entirely.
Its judges will begin by ruling on 174 allegations of fraud filed by López Obrador´s lawyers. Those rulings will likely determine whether they will order a full or partial recount.
PROTEST CAMPS
Supporters of López Obrador have seized control of Mexico City´s cultural and financial heart, setting up protest camps on the elegant Reforma Avenue and in the city´s main Zócalo plaza and snarling traffic for nearly a week.
Braving violent, nearly nightly rainstorms and even flooding, they say they won´t leave until the tribunal rules on their demands for a recount.
Gerardo Fernández Noroña, a spokesman for López Obrador´s Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), said he expected the court to decide on the party´s request for a recount sometime before Monday, but he added that party officials didn´t have any indication of how the court would rule.
He warned against a partial recount, arguing a full recount was the only way to put an end to allegations of fraud and questions about the electoral system.
PAN OPPOSES RECOUNT
Calderón says he believes the elections were clean and fair, and argues that a recount would violate a law that allows polling place results to be reopened only when there is evidence of irregularities.
López Obrador´s party won a small victory Monday when the tribunal voted unanimously to consider a possible recount.
But it dealt an apparent blow to the candidate´s "shotgun strategy" of citing thousands of irregularities at the 130,000 polling places, saying it would not roll all the legal challenges into a single case, but would consider each on its own merits.
The race was the closest presidential contest in Mexican history, dividing the nation along class and social lines.
CLASS DIVISIONS
López Obrador has promised to govern for the poor, while Calderón has the backing of the growing middle and elite classes, many of whom want to protect the new homes and cars they have been able to purchase with falling interest rates.
María Elena de Mesa Sánchez, a 59-year-old preschool teacher and one of several thousand López Obrador supporters living in protest camps, cautiously welcomed Saturday´s public session, but complained about the court´s "slowness, given the national unrest caused by the election´s irregularities."
Many have begun to question the electoral system, held up to the world as a model for emerging democracies after President Vicente Fox´s historic victory in 2000 ended 71 years of one-party rule.
Electoral officials have defended their work, and most observers said the vote was fair.
But de Mesa isn´t convinced.
"I hope that they don´t let me down," she said of the tribunal´s seven judges. "I´m waiting for a response that will satisfy the people."