The coalition led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador is calling for an invalidation of the Mexican elections due to suspected instances of vote buying, manipulation and over-spending by Peña Nieto’s party.
The Mexican Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) announced Nieto’s win on the 9th July with the final count showing 38.21% in favour however Obrador refused to concede. Nieto is leader of the Compromiso por México, a coalition composed of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) and the Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM).
However, Obrador claims Nieto’s party has violated the constitution by using corrupt and illegal tactics. Tonight he will submit a report to the IFE tonight to demand the elections are overturned.
Obrador, who comes from the leftist PRD party but represented the Movimiento Progresista coalition in the elections, accuses Nieto of multiple constitutional violation such as buying and coercing votes, influencing media coverage and exceeding the campaign spending cap by more than MXN$4.5b.
According to the coalition, Nieto over-spent drastically on advertising, with $409m going on billboards and posters in stations, sporting events and fences around Mexico.
Nieto also allegedly handed out cash cards for shopping chain Soriana and mobile phone top up cards at values of MXN$50, MXN$100 and MXN$200. This accusation was raised by the coalition on 2nd July however it remains unresolved by the IFE.
On top of these claims, Nieto is said to have bought numerous advertising slots in various media outlets to unfairly influence public opinion in his favour.
Obrador and his campaign coordinator, Ricardo Monreal are preparing dossiers for each state in which there are alleged discrepancies.
For the vote to be overturned they will need to prove irregularities in over 25% of voting boxes, according to the Challenge Law. The PRD Party claims that as many as five million votes may have been bought.
According to the original numbers released from the IFE, Peña Nieto garnered 19.1 million votes, while López Obrador received 15 million.
The report will be submitted tonight to the IFE, who will pass it on to the Electoral Tribunal to make the final decision. The TEPJF has until the 31st August to investigate allegations of corruption before the official president is announced on 9th September.
The original vote on 1st July was succeeded by country-wide protests at Nieto’s apparent win. Student activist group ‘#Yo Soy 132′ has been particularly vocal about the outcome.
