Limited recount ordered in Mexico

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López Obrador calls for orderly protests
By S. Lynne Walker
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

August 6, 2006

Mexico's top electoral court yesterday unanimously rejected leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador's demand for a complete recount in last month's presidential election, setting the stage for a new wave of protests in the country's deepening electoral crisis.

The seven-judge Federal Electoral Tribunal sharply rebuked López Obrador's claim that widespread human errors and some instances of fraud cost him the July 2 election.

LUIS J. JIMENEZ / Copley News Service
Supporters of leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador chanted demands for a full recount of votes in the July 2 presidential election as they massed outside the Federal Election Tribunal in Mexico City yesterday with chains wrapped around their wrists.
Instead, the court ordered a recount in 11,839 of the 130,000 polling places in a historic ruling that defended the integrity of the nation's electoral system.

Chief Justice Leonel Castillo said Lópex Obrador had failed to provide enough evidence to justify recounting all 41 million ballots. He said fraud was nearly impossible because the 900,000 poll workers were chosen at random from voter registration lists.

The recount is scheduled to begin Wednesday and is expected to be completed in five days.

The decision enraged López Obrador's supporters and raised concerns that his movement could turn violent. Nearly 200 people gathered outside the tribunal hurled insults and demanded that the judges come out and face the crowd. One protester threw a rock at a car as it pulled away from the back entrance to the tribunal.

Hours later, at a massive rally in Mexico City's historic downtown plaza, or Zocalo, López Obrador called on his supporters to hold a rally today in Mexico City's Zocalo. He vowed that his civil resistance will continue but insisted it will be “peaceful,” “orderly” and “respectful.”