In San Diego, activists protest Mexico elections outcome
Protesters reject Mexican elections outcome outside the Mexican Consulate in San Diego.
Over a hundred protesters rallied outside the Mexican Consulate Thursday afternoon to denounce alleged irregularities and vote buying in the Mexican elections.
The Indigenous Front of Binational Organizations and others joined to contest the victory of PRI candidate Enrique Peña Nieto.
“We cannot accept that the election was clean, fair and democratic –on the contrary,” said Rogelio Méndez. “We reject the Federal Electoral Institute’s (IFE) results.”
There have been numerous allegations of vote buying by Peña Nieto’s party and other hiccups on election day that critics say call into question the validity of the elections.
Vanessa Ceceña, one of the organizers of the protest, said she was troubled by what she saw in Tijuana on election day.
“The polling station I visited opened late, had only two ballot boxes – causing people to wait for hours – and closed before everyone in line had a chance to vote,” she said.
Mexican officials have claimed that the elections were properly carried out, and have said in the past that vote buying and other electoral irregularities only had a marginal impact on the presidential race.
An IFE recount Thursday showed Peña Nieto had a clear victory with 38.2 percent of votes. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the runner-up, has 31.5 percent.
The recount included 47 percent of polling stations in Mexico.
But Lopez Obrador is still contesting the results and has asked for a full recount of all ballots cast in the country.
The leftist candidate also challenged the results of the 2006 elections, in which he lost to Felipe Calderon by 0.56 percent of the vote. Following the elections, he refused to concede and called for protests that lasted for weeks.
(Photos courtesy Vanessa Ceceña)
