Was the Mexican Election Stolen?

[babylonsister]

And I wonder if the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research analyzed what went wrong here.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/24/1425237


Thursday, August 24th, 2006
Was the Mexican Election Stolen? Questions Raised Over Results From Preliminary Recount

As protests for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador continue in Mexico, we take a look at the country’s contested presidential election. Mexico’s Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s says Mexico’s handling of the recount raises questions about the lack of transparency in the recount and the election.

In Mexico, President Vicente Fox said this week that his ruling party ally, Felipe Calderon, was the "clear winner" of the country’s disputed presidential election. His comments came ten days before Mexico"s top electoral court is to rule on fraud claims brought by populist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Fox also warned against what he called "extremist" and "messianic" politics in a clear criticism of Lopez Obrador who has launched massive demonstrations over the past few weeks to press for a full ballot-by-ballot recount of the vote. Official tally results in July put Calderon ahead by two hundred forty thousand votes - or just over half a percentage point. Lopez Obrador soon filed claims challenging the results alleging fraud and government interference.

Supporters of Lopez Obrador have brought the capital to a virtual standstill over the past few weeks with round-the-clock protest camps, blocking streets and launching demonstrations. The electoral court has to rule on the fraud claims by the end of the month and name a new president by September 6th.

The Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research recently conducted an analysis (PDF) of Mexico’s recounted ballots that raises questions about the lack of transparency in the recount.

* Mark Weisbrot, co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC.

[Igel]

1. I couldn't get the link to the report that your linked-to source

gave to work.

It's http://www.cepr.net/publications/mexico_recount_2006_08.pdf

Spanish edition available through http://www.cepr.net/.

[RufusEarl]

2. One word answer "YES"

No way the RNC was ever going to let a progressive president rule Mexico, just wasn't going to happen not while the repug party has power in this country.

I'm impressed how the Mexico people protested the election, now if only we could have that kind of determination in this country.

[Nozebro]

3. Amen. nt

nt

[donsu]

4. yes

nt

[Vidar]

5. Of course it was.

[AtomicKitten]

6. Does the pope sh*t in the woods?

And high-five to the Mexican people for not putting up with it!

[slackmaster]

7. If it wasn't stolen, gov't is doing a piss-poor job of building confidence

Intersting times.