AMLO Loses Count, Continues to Agitate

Updated and Bumped
Well, the full count by Mexico's 300 district committees is nearly complete (though it could continue for a while longer). As I write this, 99.26% of the count is completed, and Calderon has expanded his lead to a whopping .36 percent (I'm linking to El Universal's main page, because you don't need to speak Spanish to understand the chart at the top of their site). El Universal reports that AMLO's PRD continues to insist on a full recount. Besides being against the Mexican law to open the ballot boxes, this would give the PRD thousands of boxes in which to go fishing for irregularities - and you can be sure that they would find some. What has been an orderly and well-run election would degenerate into a greater circus, and Calderon's win would be further tainted.

There is some great reading to be done this morning on the election, if you have a little time. Michael Barone has developed a fantastic understanding of Mexico, and the articles at his blog are a great read.

Also very useful is this FT interview with Felipe Calderon, in which he tactfully explains why there should not be a full recount, and why he asserted that he had won on election night. He also discusses his campaign promise to seek to create a coalition government.

Lost in all this is the breadth of the PAN victory on election day. As I've noted before, they emerged with the largest presence in both Mexico's Senate and Camara de Diputados, as well as the Presidency. Further, there were three gubernatorial elections on Sunday - in Morelos, Guanajuato, and Jalisco - and the PAN won all three.

Update: I see the Washington Post is covering the story as well. At least AMLO is making more sense, now. When he lost the preliminary count, he declared himself the winner. Now that he's lost the official count, he says 'no one can proclaim himself the winner.'

As I write this, Calderon is ahead by .45 points, with 99.54% of the vote counted. It's looking closer and closer to the results of the preliminary count.

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