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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2007 
Presidential Election Was Clean, Say Mexicans
 Angus Reid Global Monitor
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| | Mexico's President Felipe Calderon watches fireworks in front of a digital display during a celebration at the headquarters for the ruling National Action Party (PAN) in Mexico City, Monday, July 2, 2007. (AP/Gregory Bull) |
A majority of people in Mexico consider president Felipe Calderón won his six-year term in office fairly, according to a poll by Reforma. 54 per cent of respondents say last year’s presidential election was clean, while 36 per cent think it was fraudulent.
Mexican voters chose their new president in July 2006. Official results placed Calderón of the National Action Party (PAN) as the winner with 36.68 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) with 36.11 per cent, and Roberto Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) with 22.71 per cent. Calderón—a former energy secretary—took over as Mexico’s head of state in December.
López Obrador filed an unsuccessful legal challenge to the election result, alleging widespread fraud. European Union (EU) election monitors did not report any irregularities in the vote count. The PRD candidate publicly refers to himself as "Mexico’s legitimate president."
On Jul 1, López Obrador declared he is still calling for his supporters to oppose all of Calderón’s policies, saying, "I am optimistic and I maintain that sooner or later our cause will triumph. Everything depends on us not tiring and I ask you not to tire and to stand firm on our convictions."
Allegations of fraud surfaced during and after the 1988 Mexican presidential election, when the government blamed the breakdown of a computer system for unexpected delays in the distribution of results. In the end, Carlos Salinas de Gortari—the nominee for the ruling PRI—was declared the winner with 50.7 per cent of the vote, defeating Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the National Democratic Front (FDN).
The Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) was established in 1990 as an autonomous entity responsible for organizing federal elections in Mexico. Previously, the interior secretariat had been in charge of all election-related activities.
Polling Data
Do you think the Jul. 2, 2006 election was clean or fraudulent?
Was clean - 54% | Was fraudulent - 36% | Not sure - 10%
Source: Reforma
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 850 Mexican adults, conducted on Jun. 23, 2007. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent. |
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