 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2006 
Mexican Activists Want Ballots Saved
 Marion Lloyd - Houston Chronicle
| | A supporter of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), weeps as he stands by the railings of the Federal Electoral Tribunal in Mexico City. The sign reads 'Let the ballot boxes do the talking, so that the souls can be quiet'. (Reuters/Andrew Winning) |
Mexico City - Less than a week after an electoral court ruled in one of Mexico's most hotly contested presidential elections ever, authorities are moving toward burning the ballots.
Mexican activists said on Monday they would appeal the Federal Electoral Institute's decision to destroy the ballots.
Last week, the institute known as IFE threw out a petition by 850 scholars, journalists and ordinary citizens requesting access to the nearly 44 million ballots cast on July 2.
In a 20-page letter sent to the complainants on Thursday, the IFE argued that the ballots are not protected under the country's freedom of information laws and must be destroyed once the electoral process is over. It has scheduled the ballot burning for sometime after Dec. 1, when President-elect Felipe Calderon is due to be sworn in.
But the petitioners on Monday protested the decision, which they claim was politically motivated.
"It's a very clumsy political move," said Irma Sandoval, an expert on transparency laws who is advising the petitioners. "The IFE has the historic chance to calm the suspicions held by a large share of the population."
She and other advocates argue that a citizens' recount is the only way to resolve allegations that the July 2 vote was rigged on behalf of the ruling party candidate, Calderon.
Leftist challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost by just 0.56 percent of the votes, has demanded a full recount. But the IFE and later the Federal Electoral Tribunal rejected that request.
The court confirmed Calderon as president-elect on Sept. 5.
Lopez Obrador is now threatening to prevent Calderon from taking office. And he is expected to announce plans for a parallel government on Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day, raising the specter of months or years of political unrest.
"At stake is the historic truth of what happened in Mexico," said John Ackerman, an expert on Mexican electoral law and legal adviser to the complainants.
He cited parallels with the 2000 presidential elections in the United States, where several newspapers conducted their own recount of districts in the disputed state of Florida. The courts later ruled that the Florida ballots would be preserved for posterity, he said.
"If the IFE jumps the gun and prematurely burns the ballots, this would be very serious," he said.
In 1988, the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, is widely accused of resorting to fraud to keep the leftist candidate from winning. The PRI later destroyed the ballots rather than accept demands for a citizen recount.
"Now they want to burn the ballots!" Lopez Obrador told supporters gathered in downtown Mexico City on Friday. "They want to repeat what they did in 1988."
Supporters of the recount say Mexico's 2003 freedom of information act guarantees citizens access to the ballots. The law, which was sponsored by President Vicente Fox, is widely considered one of the biggest achievements of his six-year administration.
However, the IFE argued that the law protects only documents, not ballots. It also said that the electoral laws require it to protect voters' privacy and destroy their ballots.
marionlloyd@gmail.com |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us