Mexico to announce official election results
Jeff Horwich: Mexico announces the official results of its presidential election today. Preliminary results showed Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party won the election, but the runner up is demanding a recount.
Jennifer Collins reports.
Jennifer Collins: Allegations are flying in Mexico’s presidential election. Runner up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says there were so many irregularities on election day, he wants a recount. There are reports that Enrique Peña Nieto’s party spent millions buying favorable coverage from the leading local TV network Televisa.
In Mexico City, electronics vendor Guillermo Diez is one of many who says he feels robbed — he’s particularly worried about the claims that Peña Nieto’s party spent millions on illegal giveaways during the campaign.
Guillermo Diez: A mobile phone, a bill of 500 pesos, a waiver. It’s rediculous. And lots of people take it in ignorance. So they buy them with this — literally.
The Institutional Revolutionary Party had a reputation for dirty dealings during the 70 uninterupted years it held the presidency in Mexico.
Joy Langston a professor at Mexico City’s Center for Research and Teaching in Economics.
Joy Langston: So for seven decades it won elections through a strange combination of coercion, some repression, cheating, electoral rules shenanigans and good policy making.
And now many Mexicans are hoping the emphasis will be on good policy making this time around.
In Mexico City, I’m Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.
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