Mexico's highest electoral authority has declared Enrique Pena Nieto the
winner of the country's July 1 presidential election.
The Federal Electoral Tribunal rejected an appeal from leftist candidate
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has accused Pena Nieto's Institutional
Revolutionary Party, or PRI, of buying millions of votes with bribes and
gift cards distributed ahead of the polls.
Final vote tallies showed Pena Nieto winning the July polls by nearly
seven percentage points.
The tribunal also dismissed claims that the PRI exceeded campaign
spending limits.
The
ruling clears the way for Pena Nieto to begin his six-year term December
1. He succeeds outgoing President Felipe Calderon.
Electoral court judge Flavio Galvan Rivera characterized Lopez Obrador's
complaints as unfounded and said the majority were "vague, generic and
imprecise." He said there is "no proof of vote buying, there is no proof
of coercion."
In 2006, Lopez Obrador demanded a recount after losing the presidency to
Felipe Calderon by slightly more than half a percentage point. His
requests were refused, triggering protests by the candidate's supporters
that choked Mexico City for weeks.
