Mexico City – In a setback to the presidential hopes of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a special electoral court refused Saturday to order a full recount of votes from the disputed July 2 election – something his supporters have demanded during a week of sit-ins that have strangled this mega-city’s downtown.
The Federal Electoral Judicial Tribunal, a 10-year-old cornerstone of Mexico’s democratic transition, instead ordered a more limited recount starting Wednesday of ballots cast in just 9 percent of polling places.
The unanimous decision sparked angry jeers in tent cities set up by demonstrators on busy thoroughfares and raised fears that a peaceful protest movement could turn violent.
Moments after the court ruled, flatbed trucks heavy with protesters chanting “vote by vote, polling place by place” poured into the streets.
Demonstrators leaned through the bars of a sturdy metal fence surrounding the tribunal’s compound and chanted “bandits, rats, thieves!”
“They’re putting at risk the peaceful stability of the country,” Mexican congressman Emilio Serrano screamed into a bullhorn outside the court.
“We’re prepared to die in the fight.”
The tribunal’s decision greatly increases the chances of victory for Felipe Calderon, a free- trade booster from the National Action Party of outgoing President Vicente Fox.
Top advisers to Lopez Obrador, a populist champion of the poor, said privately that they have almost no chance of overturning the results with such a small recount.
But some legal experts believe the tribunal could still annul the election before its Sept. 6 deadline if it finds blatant errors after the limited recount, which is expected to take five days.
The recount will be conducted by Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute, an internationally respected body that Lopez Obrador has accused of rigging computers to guarantee Calderon’s half-percentage-point victory. The electoral institute’s vote counters will be overseen by local judges.
The tribunal agreed to conduct recounts in 149 of Mexico’s 300 regional vote tabulation centers.
Rather than open sealed vote packets from all 130,400 polling places across the nation, the counters will examine ballots from 11,839.
