Incredibly, the chairman of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute, has announced its intention to burn all the ballot papers from the hotly-contested Presidential elections.

This outrageous move follows immediately on from the Mexican Supreme Court’s controversial declaration that right-wing candidate Felipe Calderon is the winner of last July’s presidential election. The Supreme Court supported the ‘official’ results which showed Calderon defeating his left-wing opponent, Lopez Obrador, by less 250,000 votes out of the 42 million votes cast.

The Supreme Court’s confirmation was eerily reminiscent of the 2000 American Presidential election, when George W Bush was declared the winner over Democrat Al Gore, despite clear evidence that Gore was the winner.

The Supreme Court’s announcement came despite massive street protests by Obrador’s supporters who claim voting errors in over 30% of polling stations. Millions of Lopez Obrador’s supporters have refused to accept the result as legitimate and are demanding a national recount. They have even taken steps to set up a ‘government-in-opposition’.

Soon after the election the Federal Electoral Tribunal rejected the evidence of voting irregularities after a highly disputed investigation. They refused a national recount in a move widely seen as a desperate measure to hold the tide towards left-wing government now sweeping across Latin America.

Now the Electoral Institute has announced plans to destroy all the ballots citing a 1990 law on the subject. However, even ‘official winner’ Calderon has asked for the ballots to be saved to guarantee "citizen certainty and confidence in Mexican institutions."
On the same logic it would make sense to carry out a full recount. There is no rush to declare the winner - the new President is not due to take office until December 1st. Surely, a recount overseen by officials from each of the presidential campaigns is the only way to deliver “citizen certainty and confidence”.

Some argue that Mexico’s highest court’s verdict should be the end of the story. However, until courts become more democratic they are not the best places to decide such things. After all, Mexico’s Supreme Court is mainly made up of judges appointed by governments from the same party or supportive of Calderon’s right-wing policies.

The same is true of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute and its Federal Electoral Tribunal which were both appointed by adminstrations sympathetic to Calderon.

An identical problem occurred in the 2000 US presidential election. There, the largely Republican-appointed US Supreme Court declared by a predictable majority for the Republican Party candidate, George W Bush, and against the recount in Florida.
Some say that a full recount will create a disruptive precedent for future elections. But it is part of the procedure in many countries that candidates in close elections can demand a recount. In Britain for instance, elections for parliament regularly end up in full recounts in the disputed areas. The result – public confidence in the final result.

Instead, we have an election result that tens of millions of Mexicans don’t believe in. Plus a loss of confidence in the objective nature of Mexico’s electoral institutions. All because these institutions refuse to hold a simple recount.

Perhaps left-winger Lopez Oberon is right in thinking that fraud and meddling by out-going President Vicente Fox stole the election from him. If not, why no recount?

What is there to hide?

We in Democracy Unlimited believe that closely-disputed elections should not be decided by government-appointed Electoral Commissions, Tribunals or Supreme Courts. These bodies are inevitably biased and can be subject to intimidation or corruption.

Let the Mexican peoples’ votes decide – carry out a full recount!
Democratise the Electoral Institute, Electoral Tribunal & Supreme Court!