Calderon ekes out win in Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Conservative Felipe Calderon was officially declared the winner of Mexico’s presidential election Thursday, outpolling leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador by less than a percentage point after more than three days of vote counting.

Lopez Obrador immediately denounced irregularities in the official count and said he would launch an effort to overturn Calderon’s victory before Mexico’s Federal Electoral Tribunal. Legal analysts believe the seven-judge panel, which has exercised its power to overturn gubernatorial elections and order new votes, is likely to consider the case.

Lopez Obrador, the former Mexico City mayor, also urged his followers to attend a massive rally to protest the election result on Saturday in this city’s central square, the Zocalo. Calderon called on his own followers to also make their voices heard so that their votes “are not thrown into the trash bin.”

Calderon promised to work to unite Mexicans divided by one of the bitterest campaigns in Mexican political history – and to defend his triumph against the court challenges.

“This is not my victory, it is the victory of Mexicans who decided by peaceful means who should be president,” Calderon told a group of supporters. “I ask you to be vigilant because we’re going to need each and every one of you to ensure that these votes are not thrown out.”

With all 41 million votes cast in Sunday’s presidential election tabulated, Calderon defeated Lopez Obrador by about 244,000 votes, or by 0.58 of a percentage point, according to election officials. Millions of Mexicans watched the dramatic count conclude on television before dawn Thursday. It was the second, nail-biting, overnight vote count Mexicans witnessed in less than a week.

A preliminary tally of the votes completed Monday had found the race too close to call. That resulted in unexpected attention for the usually unnoticed count of polling station reports that began at 8 a.m. Wednesday at 300 election offices across Mexico.

For 20 hours, the count showed Lopez Obrador ahead by a narrow margin. But shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday, with less than 4 percent of polling stations left to be counted, Calderon squeaked ahead: For reasons that remain unclear, votes from many northern states where Calderon was strongest were tallied last.

Minutes later, the conservative candidate rose to a stage outside the headquarters of his National Action Party and claimed victory.

Analysts agree that Calderon, 43, won the election largely thanks to a sophisticated media campaign that warned voters of the “dangers” of a Lopez Obrador presidency. Radio and television commercials charged that the charismatic former mayor of Mexico City was a demagogic populist who would bring Mexico to financial ruin if elected. The ads hit home with voters who remembered runaway inflation and monetary devaluation in the recent past.

Calderon’s margin was the narrowest in any Mexican presidential election.

Lopez Obrador has until Sunday to present a formal challenge to the result before the Federal Electoral Tribunal. If Calderon’s victory survives court challenges, he will take the oath of office on Dec. 1. As president, he would face a host of challenges in governing an impoverished country bitterly divided over the issues of social justice and economic growth that defined the campaign.