Mexican Election Observation:


Results of our Mexican Election Observation: Why We are Asking For a Vote-By-Vote Recount
		Reports
		Read Global Exchange and Alianza Civica's Election Observation Reports

		The Recount?
		Find information concerning the recount, including recent speeches by AMLO.

		Links
		Find links to electoral institutions and other organizations important in determining the outcome of the 2006 Mexican Presidential Elections.

		News Updates
		Read all the important news relating to our campaigns in Mexico, including press on the 2006 Mexican Presidential Election.

Women voting in San Cristóbal

Global Exchange has a long history of organizing elections observations in more than a dozen countries since 1994. In the last twelve years we have organized ten observations of Mexican presidential, mid-term, state and municipal elections. All of our observation efforts in Mexico are carried out in a spirit of democratic solidarity and with the humble understanding that we are guests of the Mexican people who are the final arbiters of their sovereignty and national life.

During the 2006 presidential election cycle, we sent two delegations of international observers to Mexico -- for a pre-election delegation from June 3-11 (see sidebar to download our report on the pre-electoral conditions in Mexico) and again from June 26 to July 5. The second observer delegation visited areas considered to be at risk for voting irregularities in the states of Mexico, Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí.

Mexico's presidential election on July 2nd was a very tight contest between Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador and Felipe Calderón. According to The Federal Electoral Institute's (IFE) tally, Mr. Calderón has a lead of 243, 934 votes (0.58 per cent of the total cast) over Mr. Obrador.

Because of the close result and the multiple inconsistencies alleged by political parties, domestic observers, and the public, we think it necessary to take the unusual step of opening the ballot boxes and recounting the votes. A publically supervised count can help to calm the uncertainties and concerns that have arisen since July 2.

We believe a public recount is in the interest of all parties in Mexico. No matter which candidate emerges as the benificiary of a recount, Mexico will benefit in terms of greater certainty about the election result and the stature of its next leader.

For now, the work of the IFE is complete and decisions about certifying the count are in the hands of the Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación (TRIFE). The TRIFE, whose decisions can overrule the IFE, is empowered to review and clarify the election as it sees fit and has until the 6th of September to do so.

We encourage the TRIFE to engage in a thorough and deliberate review of the legal challenges that have been raised regarding the election. This review should include a recount of all ballots nationwide.