Battle of the Ballot: Mexican Election’s Legitimacy in Question

On August 5, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal denied the PRD’s appeal for a vote-by-vote recount, and instead opted for what some senators called “the worst of all possible outcomes”: by the Tribunal’s decree, 9% of the ballots will be recounted, primarily from PAN-governed states. By ordering a recount the Tribunal has conceded the election was corrupt; however, since only a fraction of the ballots will be recounted, the legitimacy of the “victor” will be permanently tainted. Meanwhile, AMLO declared he will continue his tactics of “peaceful civil resistance” to force a full recount or, as a last resort, a nullification of the election.

Outside the Tribunal’s doors, an indignant crowd ominously shouted: “If there is no solution, there will be revolution!” Revolution or not, this election’s North/South split is evidence of two Mexicos: a wealthier north more allied with the United States and neoliberal economic development, and a poorer south with more in common with the burgeoning popular movements now spreading across Latin America. The clash of these competing visions seems bound to spark a genuine social upheaval in Mexico, one which not even AMLO or the PRD may be capable of controlling.