Mexican Court Rejects Recount

The Mexican court that oversees elections has rejected the vote-by-vote recount the loser Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had demanded. The possibility still exists for a partial recount of limited scope and duration. Mexican law does not allow for full recounts except in very limited circumstances, the conditions for which were not met.

In Mexico's central plaza, thousands of protesters watched the court session on a huge screen, chanting "Vote by vote!" and drowning out the judges' statements. Representatives of Lopez Obrador walked out of the session in protest.

Tens of thousands of Lopez Obrador's supporters have camped out in the capital's center for a week, disrupting business and traffic to press their case that their candidate was cheated of victory in the July 2 election and to demand that all the votes be recounted.

In their first public session on the dispute, the seven judges of the Federal Electoral Court left open the possibility that they could order a partial recount. The tribunal has until Sept. 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the elections.

Official tallies gave ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon, a former energy secretary, an advantage of less than 0.6 percent, or about 240,000 votes, out of more than 41 million cast.

Chief justice Leonel Castillo argued Saturday that Mexico's political parties had a chance to raise concerns and dispute results when the results were first counted July 2 and then again during an official count held the week after the vote.

During an official count, Mexican law allows authorities to open ballot boxes only if there is evidence of irregularities or fraud. Castillo cautioned against straying from the law, saying recounts should be "exclusively and only" when there are obvious problems.

The protesters who are destroying Mexico's economy have vowed to stay in the capitol city until a full recount is held. One has to wonder where the money for these protests is coming. People have to eat. Could Hugo Chavez be helping to fund AMLO's effort?

UPDATE: The BBC: "If there is no solution, there'll be revolution," well, that's not a good sign, is it?