Mexico Candidate Heads to Electoral Court

[cal04]

Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador headed to court Sunday evening to present 800 pages of purported evidence of fraud that he hoped would overturn his conservative rival's razor-thin preliminary victory.

Lopez Obrador said his lawyers would give the Federal Electoral Court evidence of fraud, including computerized manipulation of the results, a day after he called for continued hope from supporters at a mammoth rally in Mexico City's historic center.

The legal appeal would seek not to annul the July 2 election, but to force authorities to conduct a manual recount of all 41 million ballots.

``This was a very irregular election and we are asking that they count vote by vote to legitimize the president elect,'' Gerardo Fernandez, a spokesman for Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party, said outside the tribunal Sunday night as he waited for lawyers to arrive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5940882,00.html
story now up at MSNBC(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13759417/)

[RagAss]

1. good luck with that.....

[PSPS]

2. Again with the "leftist"

[Ghost Dog]

10. Yeah, crap.

He's center-left, business-friendly but also concerned, he says, to distribute some wealth and social justice in the direction of the 'poor'. More like Brazil's Lula. Mexico's real 'left' is far more radical (and of course diverse). Including Zapatistas.

[Robbien]

3. Remember, the vote is not final until the commission says it is

The NYT was in error by calling the race final. Mexico's rules are different. The electorial commission is the final say in Mexico and that fat lady has not sung yet.

[marjorieann]

4. Yes, Robbien

correct. Obrador is a fighter. Here is a better article from the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file/chronicle/archive/2006/07/09/MNGCQJS7U51.DTL&type=politics

Hope that comes up, one article I read today from the NYTimes, seemed to suggest that Obrador was just a hot head, always insisting that he was robbed. Well, Madrazo did rob him in Tabasco, then has the gaul to run again for President.Pretty bizarre.


Okay, sorry, it's not coming up. A great article, google in Mexico City Demonstrations, click latest breaking news,"Runner-up has history of taking protest to the streets. Advocate for poor, indigenous rose to Mexico City mayor," by Robert Collier 7/09/06

It would have been nice if Mr. Collier would've said "Cheated candidate" instead of "Runner -up". But still a good article, thanks Mr.Collier.

Another thought though, even if the cheating is never revealed and Obrador 'loses', he still can turn this country upside down and sideways, I predict a wild ride for the next six years.

Good night everyone and take care.

[NYC]

5. Excellent article.

Thanks. Welcome to DU. :hi:

[cosmicdot]

7. is this the article

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/09/MNGCQJS7U51.DTL&hw=Robert+Collier&sn=001&sc=1000

Runner-up has history of taking protest to the streets

Advocate for poor, indigenous rose to be Mexico City mayor

Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, July 9, 2006


(07-09) 04:00 PDT Mexico City -- He started his political career by leading blockades of highways and sit-ins at oil wells, and now all of Mexico is waiting to see whether he backs up his demands for an election recount with more of the same.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who according to the official count came in second in last Sunday's presidential voting behind conservative Felipe Calderon, has shown that he can summon tens of thousands of supporters into the streets on short notice when his backers feel cheated.

Lopez Obrador and his Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, have long believed that part of grassroots democracy is the use of street power -- what supporters call civil disobedience and opponents term extortion. Saturday's demonstration in downtown Mexico City was a prime example.

Whatever one thinks of Lopez Obrador, he is not a typical presidential contender.

He drives a simple white 2004 Nissan sedan and lives in a modest apartment. When it rains at outdoor rallies, he turns aside his aides' umbrellas and allows himself to get sopping wet. He took 14 years to graduate from college and doesn't speak English.

~snip~

[oasis]

6. Will the U.S. press investigate and get the full story out?eom

[Bridget Burke]

9. The Houston Chronicle has covered the election fairly well....

Here's one of the latest articles. Your local media might not be covering the story, but the Internet allows all of us to "investigate."

July 9, 2006, 11:23AM
Crowds rally for leftist
Nearly 300,000 pack Mexico City plaza to protest the election results

By DUDLEY ALTHAUS and MARION LLOYD
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Foreign Service

MEXICO CITY - At the behest of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, nearly 300,000 people packed the Mexican capital's sprawling central plaza Saturday, demanding a recount of the July 2 election that official results show he barely lost.

"We're defending a just cause: the right of Mexicans to choose their leaders," Lopez Obrador told the cheering, chanting throng. "Democracy is indispensable to achieve a Mexico of justice and dignity."

"We're going to defend democracy."

Lopez Obrador called on supporters nationwide to begin marching on Mexico City on Wednesday and to gather for another mass rally in the central plaza, the Zocalo, in a week.

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4033936.html

[oasis]

11. Thanks.Let's see if there will be widespread coverage of this important

story. The corporate media will likely downplay the shady details surrounding the election unless there is a major revolution.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Mexico: Calderón Hasn't Won

Mexico: Calderón Hasn't Won

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted July 10, 2006.

It's already become fashionable to compare Mexico's 2006 vote with the impasse that followed Florida's contested race in 2000. There are many differences, but one stands out: there's no Al Gore in this race. Liberal Andre Manuel López Obrador, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), is not going to go down without a fight. Millions of frustrated Mexicans who had pinned their hopes on "AMLO" will have his back.

The media have been dutiful stenographers for the Calderón campaign and reported that López Obrador's call for massive (but peaceful) protests demanding a fair count is somehow bad for Mexican democracy. Millions of frustrated Americans, having seen spineless capitulation from Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 would no doubt disagree.

Crucial to the mainstream narrative is that conservative candidate Felipe Calderón has won the election -- that the National Action Party (PAN) candidate took it in a squeaker. Yes, there are reports of "irregularities," we're told, but the vote was clean and López Obrador's protests only prove that he's a sore loser who simply won't accept the outcome of a close loss (sound familiar?).

That narrative is wrong for one simple reason: nobody has won Mexico's presidential election. Regardless of what the New York Times or Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) claim, the results aren't in. Under Mexican law, only the Federal Electoral Tribunal, know by its Spanish acronym TRIFE, can say who will serve as Mexico's next president.
(snip/...)

http://www.alternet.org/story/38727/

[yodermon]

12. Everyone please note that Greg Palast CALLED THIS on 6/30:

http://www.gregpalast.com/stealing-mexico

BUSH TEAM HELPS RULING PARTY “FLORIDIZE” MEXICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

by Greg Palast

Friday, June 30 — GEORGE Bush’s operatives have plans to jigger with the upcoming elections. I’m not talking about the November ‘06 vote in the USA (though they have plans for that, too). I’m talking about the election this Sunday in Mexico for their Presidency.

[cal04]

13. 900 pages, funneled money ,software program, videos

The 900-page claim alleged that some polling places had more votes than registered voters, that the ruling party funneled government money to Calderon's campaign, that spending limits were violated and that a software program was used to skew initial vote-count reports.

``We have proof that basic rules were flagrantly violated,'' said Ricardo Monreal, a representative for Lopez Obrador, who was not at the filing.

Mexico's Federal Electoral Court will review the case, which includes videos, campaign materials and electoral documents. The court has until Sept. 6 to declare a winner.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5941949,00.html

[drm604]

14. This sounds depressingly familiar.

...alleged that some polling places had more votes than registered voters, that the ruling party funneled government money to Calderon's campaign, that spending limits were violated and that a software program was used to skew initial vote-count reports.

Which country is this about?
Sounds like go ol' American Democracy to me. :sarcasm:

[cal04]

15. 280,000 supporters and videos of ballot tampering

Lopez Obrador, 52, on July 8 drew about 280,000 supporters to Mexico City's colonial center for a rally


Among his other claims, Lopez Obrador says electoral authorities nullified 900,000 votes that were improperly marked or defaced by people who wanted to protest that he says should be looked at again. He also cited mathematical errors in the more than 900 page filing presented last night. The filing also includes video tapes, which Lopez Obrador's party claims show evidence of ballot tampering in one state.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a_GXKAfGuL8g&refer=home