López Obrador files lawsuit for recount

Andrés Manuel López Obrador filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday charging Mexico's national electoral board with criminal omission of duties for not stopping negative advertising in the final weeks of the campaign, his latest bid to force a recount in the July 2 presidential election.

López Obrador, of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, fell 244,000 votes short of his competitor Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party and has since pressed his case for a recount of all 41 million votes cast, charging that the balloting was tainted by fraud and mismanagement.

His appeal is now before a seven-judge federal electoral tribunal. Its decision, expected by Aug. 31, could go a number of ways: a partial or full recount, nullifying the election and calling for new balloting, or dismissal of López Obrador's appeal.

During the campaign, López Obrador successfully filed a complaint to stop negative political ads that Calderón was running that depicted López Obrador as comparable to Venezuela's Hugo Chávez.