NYT: Mexican Tribunal Rejects Orbrador's Demand for Total Vote Recount

NYT: Mexican Tribunal Rejects Leftist’s Demand for Total Vote Recount

By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. | Published: August 6, 2006

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 5 — A seven-member electoral tribunal on Saturday unanimously rejected a demand from the leftist candidate for president for a complete recount of votes, setting the stage for more protests by thousands of his supporters who have camped out in the capital, claiming the election last month was fraudulent.

Later in the day, the candidate, Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor who champions the cause of the poor, refused to accept the ruling. At a raucous rally in the Zócalo, the city’s historic central square, he called on his followers to continue a campaign of civil disobedience in support of a full recount. He gave no hint of what the next move in that campaign would be.

“We demand that the magistrates rectify their decision because they have the ability and the moral responsibility to do it,” he said, as a crowd of several thousand chanted “fraud, fraud.”

During a two-hour morning session, the judges ordered that the votes in the July 2 election be recounted in only 11,839 of the 130,000 polling places. They rejected Mr. López Obrador’s argument that there was enough human error and, in some instances, enough evidence of fraud to warrant recounting all 41 million votes.

They also noted that his Party of the Democratic Revolution had failed to challenge the results in 70 electoral districts, and that under the law, those results must stand.

Leonel Castillo, the chief judge of the electoral tribunal, defended the integrity of Mexico’s electoral system in general, saying fraud was nearly impossible because citizens chosen at random and trained to be poll workers were responsible for counting the vote on election night.

“Citizens provide the certainty of the computation process,” he said. “This is the method and the way that the law makes the elections certain.”

Other judges echoed his view, rejecting Mr. Lopéz Obrador’s contention that there was a plot among poll workers in some states to pad his opponent’s totals.

“The election method is ingenious,” Magistrate Mauro Miguel Reyes Zapata said. “It’s ingenious, and we can assume it is secure, because it is the citizens who carry it out and organize it.”

But there was apparently still a chance that a further recount could be ordered. Lorenzo Cordova, a law professor who specializes in election law, said the court could order a recount of more polling places later on if the recount reveals signs of fraud.

“This recount, although it’s partial, will permit one to find evidence of whether there was fraud or not,” he said. “It opens the door to the possibility of knowing if Mr. Lopéz Obrador’s accusations have merit or not.”

Last month, an official tally handed a narrow victory to Felipe Calderón, the conservative candidate from Mr. Fox’s governing National Action Party. The count showed Mr. Calderón won by only 243,000 votes. Mr. López Obrador has argued that there were arithmetical errors in at least 72,000 polling places and evidence of fraud in about 600.

Over the last month, Mr. López Obrador has said repeatedly that he will accept nothing less than a recount of all the votes cast.

Outside the courthouse, about 200 protesters burst into shouts as news of the ruling spread, hurling insults about the judges and blocking the doors so no one could leave. Some carried placards that said, “Sold-out judges,” “You are a shame to Mexico” and “How much did they pay you?”

In recent days, political operatives connected to Mr. López Obrador have told of a move afoot to bribe the panel, though they offered no proof.

Arturo Nuñez and Ricardo Monreal, two lawyers for Mr. López Obrador, stormed out of the courthouse before the vote as soon as it became apparent the judges would not grant their request.

A spokesman for Mr. López Obrador, César Yañez, said the candidate was closeted with his closest advisers, hammering out a plan of action. His supporters have already blockaded the main artery of the capital, Avenida Reforma, for miles, tying up traffic and hurting businesses.

In his speech, Mr. López Obrador said he would unveil the next stage of the protest on Sunday morning.

The judges ruled there were arithmetic errors and other irregularities that warranted a recount of votes in about 10 percent of the polling places. Those polling places are located in 145 of the 300 electoral districts and 26 of the 32 states.

Chief Magistrate Castillo said Mr. López Obrador’s lawyers had failed to provide enough evidence of irregularities to throw the entire count into doubt.

Instead, the panel voted to order electoral judges in those states to conduct the partial recount over five days starting Wednesday. After the recount, they will rule on whether to annul the results from those polling places and to accept the new totals. Next, the judges must certify that the election was fair and name the new president-elect by Sept. 6.

Mr. Calderón, 43, a former energy minister, remained silent on Saturday. Lawyers for his party said the ruling seemed fair and that they hoped it would clear up doubts about the outcome.

But Mr. López Obrador made it plain that nothing short of a complete recount would dispel those doubts.

“They have the money and the power, but we have our principles and the backing of the people,” he said to the crowd. “The people are our principal resource.”