 |
|
|
 Editorials | At Issue | July 2006 
Tribunal has to Address Irregularities
 Kelly Arthur Garrett - El Universal
| | Electoral officials from around the country have their district's election paperwork checked at the offices of the Federal Electoral Tribunal in Mexico City, Mexico on Saturday July 15, 2006. Weeks after a still-undecided presidential election, the suspense is testing Mexico's young democracy. The highly respected Federal Electoral Institute is fighting to make sure that the tug of war doesn't reverse democratic gains made after President Vicente Fox's stunning victory six years ago ended 71 years of one-party rule. (AP/Eduardo Verdugo) |
A politically neutral citizens committee that´s been watch- dogging the elections since the beginning of the campaign announced that a "series of irregularities" must be addressed before the public will completely accept a winner of the July 2 presidential vote.
The Fellow Citizens Electoral Process Monitoring Committee, made up of prominent pro-democracy activists and public intellectuals, will draft a letter to the Electoral Tribunal (the TEPJF) asking it to "clarify" several procedural problems at polling stations and during the preliminary vote-counting before declaring a winner in the contested presidential race.
"It is our opinion that there exists a series of irregularities that must be clarified in order to achieve the kind of certainty society needs to recognize a president-elect," said Citizens Committee member Alberto Athié.
But the committee stopped short of endorsing Andrés Manuel López Obrador´s allegations that an organized effort by the ruling National Action Party (PAN) created a false uncertified vote count that puts the PAN´s Felipe Calderón 243,000 votes, or 0.58 percent, ahead of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) candidate.
"There is no basis for talking about widespread state-run fraud," Athié said at a Mexico City conference. "As a party, they (the PRD) have a right to bring up the possibility of generalized fraud based on their own analysis, but they have to prove it."
Several individual problems uncovered by committee investigators, however, echo complaints from the López Obrador campaign. They include the possible disqualification of valid ballots, "human error" in the vote-tallying, and lingering confusion about the preliminary ("PREP") vote count disseminated in the days following the balloting.
"The explanations offered by the Federal Electoral Institute have not been satisfactory," their statement reads.
Among other irregularities cited by the committee are a "worrisome" breakdown of the rules governing last-minute replacements of polling station volunteers, eligible voters left off the rolls at their assigned stations, and unchecked vote-buying or coercion.
Citizens Committee members said public doubt about who actually won the election will remain until all irregularities are investigated and the tally adjusted if necessary.
"We suggest that the TEPJF recount votes as necessary to provide certainty in this election," its statement reads.
Said Cristina Martín, of the Morelos Human Rights Academy, "Whether it´s a partial adjustment or a full vote-by-vote recount is for the Tribunal to decide." |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us