Is there any press on this? That AMLO's claim is based on actually polling place tallies, not exit polls?
Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2006 22:13:10 -0400 From: "Julio Huato" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [lbo-talk] Mexico update To: "PEN-L Send" <[email protected]>, "Lbo Talk Lbo Talk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed The media is trying to present Calderón as the evident winner, with 36.38% of the votes, versus López Obrador's 35.34%. It appears to be the establishment consensus. Not so fast, says López Obrador. At the end of election day, each polling place had to post -- physically -- a tally on the outside. So people can look at it -- and take pictures with their cell phones or digital cameras. Over the net, López Obrador's supporters organized the collection of these photos, and the numbers shown in those photos do not match those published online on the PREP of the Instituto Federal Electoral. It seems obvious that trickery was involved. There are dozens of photos circulating on the web. For example, I saw one showing 188 votes for López Obrador that the PREP recorded as 88. In other instances, 194 is changed to 144. Etc. In a phrase, "vote shaving" -- a few votes here, a few votes there, soon you're talking real votes. Overall, López Obrador told the press, there are 3 million votes unaccounted for. It seems stupid, because the data on turnout is there, yet you add up all the votes (including the null votes) and you fall short of the total figure. Hmm... So, López Obrador calmly told the press he's sticking to the institutional process, including appeal and all that, but he's saying that the PREP data cannot be taken seriously, because it's unreliable. López Obrador is no Al Gore nor John Kerry. The people who support him are outraged and convinced this is an attempt to subvert the people's will. He's been a fighter his whole life -- he seems calm and ready to do whatever it takes to right these wrongs. So I think he really means it when he says he'll defend each and every vote. But we'll see. Julio
-- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org
