Mexican Presidential Race Too Close To Call

The Washington Post is reporting a virtual dead heat in the Mexican presidential election. This is based on exit polls, which I have almost zero faith in, anyway. Still it appears to be close.

Two leading newspaper exit polls said Felipe Calderon of the ruling party and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the left-wing former mayor of Mexico City, were locked in such a tight battle that it was impossible to declare a winner.

Lopez Obrador's party said most exit polls showed him winning, adding to fears of election disputes and possible unrest in the hours and days ahead.

One exit poll from GEA-ISA said Calderon had a lead of 4 percentage points over Lopez Obrador, although it is not one of the most closely-watched polling firms and its pre-election polls never had Calderon trailing even when all others did.

The Federal Electoral Institute was expected to announce official results at around 11 p.m.

If it is unable to call a winner, Mexico could face days or weeks of legal wrangling and protests similar to the fight that followed the U.S. presidential election in 2000.

It is going to be a long night for a lot of people.

UPDATE: For example, Mark In Mexico is, for all intents and purposes, live blogging it. He is also saying it too close to call but notes some odd facts as well.

Other Links to this Post

1. The Moderate Voice — Sunday, 2 July , 2006 @ 11:22 pm

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