Mexico Election - Eerily similar to the US Selection of 2000

Mexico braces for legal battles as presidential candidate demands recount

Mexico braced for what could be a lengthy legal battle reminiscent of the 2000 US election, as a leftist presidential candidate demanded a recount of results that gave his rival a razor-thin victory.

Conservative Felipe Calderon had 36.38 percent of the votes and a lead of just 1.04 points, according to a provisional vote count which leftist former mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would contest, claiming three million votes were missing.

The Federal Electoral Institute has until Sunday to complete its certification process, but the final outcome may not be known for months if the outcome is formally challenged.

The Federal Electoral Tribunal (Trife,) the final arbiter in electoral disputes, has until September 6 to give its final seal of approval.

Calderon, 43, of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) insisted there was no question he had an "irreversible" lead over Lopez Obrador.

Lopez Obrador, 52, who had initially also claimed victory after Sunday's election, called for a recount, "polling station by polling station."

"There are many inconsistencies," said Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor and the standard bearer of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD.)

He said he would use legal means to challenge the current count, while his party announced the formation of a special committee to defend his "triumph."

The statements raised fears of bitter and lengthy legal disputes reminiscent of the electoral debacle in Florida that delayed the outcome of the 2000 US presidential election by five weeks.

IFE admitted Tuesday there were some "inconsistencies" but did not explain further why a comparison of the participation level and the number of votes tallied left about three million votes unaccounted for.

"What's going on, that's what we want to know," asked Lopez Obrador.

The political cliffhanger was being closely followed by Washington, which had hoped to see a reversal of the trend that brought several leftist leaders to power across Latin America in recent years.

But the US administration insisted it would work with whoever wins the election.

Authorities urged Mexicans to patiently await the official outcome, after both frontrunners claimed victory and thousands took to the streets in rival victory celebrations shortly after Sunday's vote.

Calderon called for an end to the bitter political rivalries that marked the electoral campaign. "Now is the time for conciliation," said Calderon, whose campaign had likened his rival to Venezuela's virulently anti-US leader Hugo Chavez, a comparison generally rejected by analysts.

A lifelong politician, Calderon has served as a lawmaker, PAN party president, and as energy minister in the cabinet of President Vicente Fox, whose 2000 victory ended 71 years of authoritarian rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI.)

The PRI's candidate, Roberto Madrazo, who lagged far behind, accepted defeat but urged Mexicans to await the formal proclamation of a winner.

Calderon says he wants to encourage foreign investment and slash corporate taxes in order to boost economic growth and create badly-needed jobs.

Mexico's next president, who will take office on December 1, will face formidable challenges in trying to fulfill campaign pledges of battling poverty, corruption, common crime and drug-fueled violence.

He will also be hampered by the lack of congressional majority.

The ruling PAN won about 34 percent of the congressional mandates, the PRD 29 percent, and the PRI 27 percent.