Leftist Plans Sit-Ins to Challenge Mexico Vote

For complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/31/world/americas/31mexico.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

July 31, 2006
Leftist Plans Sit-Ins to Challenge Mexico Vote
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

MEXICO CITY, July 30 — Four weeks after a very close election plunged this country into political crisis, the leftist candidate escalated his campaign to undo the official results, telling a mass rally of his supporters on Sunday that they must engage in civil disobedience to “defend democracy” and force the recognition of “my triumph as president.”

“Mexico does not deserve to be governed by an illegitimate president,” said the candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor who election officials say lost the national election by a mere 243,000 votes of 41 million cast.

A special electoral court has yet to ratify the results and Mr. López Obrador has challenged the official tally, contending that there were widespread irregularities, human errors and, in some instances, fraud. He and his supporters want all the ballots counted again.

Felipe Calderón, a conservative candidate who officials say received the most votes, contends that recounting all the votes is unnecessary and illegal. Poll workers, chosen at random like jurors and trained for the job, counted the ballots the night of the election in the presence of party officials and signed formal tally sheets.

While Mr. López Obrador led a third huge march down Reforma Avenue to the Zócalo, Mexico City’s central square, on Sunday, Mr. Calderón appeared before the Federal Electoral Tribunal to counter the leftist’s arguments that the vote count was flawed. “We won cleanly,” he told reporters after an audience with judges. “And we are not going to let these millions of votes be canceled.”

Mr. Calderón also said Mr. López Obrador could not win in court with sit-ins and other acts of civil disobedience. “We believe in the force of the law,” he said.

The tribunal has until Sept. 6 to resolve the legal challenges and declare the president-elect. Mr. López Obrador said he would not accept anything less than a full recount and promised to wage a campaign of civil disobedience until he got one.

The city police, whose commanders have political ties to Mr. López Obrador, estimated that about 1.2 million people attended the march, making it one of the largest in the country’s history.

The estimate could not be confirmed by other means, but the central square, which holds about 100,000 people, was packed, a sea of people wearing the bright yellow of Mr. López Obrador’s Party of the Democratic Revolution. The crowd spilled into nearby streets, filling major avenues for a half-mile in every direction.

The multitude — farmers and working-class people bused from rural towns, as well as left-leaning urban professionals — thundered the chant, “Vote by vote, polling place by polling place,” as Mr. López Obrador took the stage.