Just a few minutes ago Leonardo Valdés Zurita, Chairman of the Federal Institution of Elections (IFE in Spanish) nationally broadcasted a message regarding the presidential elections of Mexico. He stated that over 62% of the Mexican citizens in the position to vote went to the booths to do so; that means approximately 49 millions of people voted. The Chairman declared that today Mexico had an admirable voting day.
He also announced the following numbers based on the results of the preliminary results:
Josefina Vázquez Mota VM 25.10 to 26.03%
Enrique Peña Nieto 37.93 to 38.55%
Andrés Manuel López Obrador 30.90 to 31.86%
Gabriel Quadri Quadri 2.27 to 2.57%
Valdés explained that the system used had a variant of +/- 0.5 points and that the preliminary results program (PREP in Spanish) would continue until the 20 hours of July 02. He also reminded the public that the final counting would not begin until July 04.
After his message, the current President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, addressed the Mexican public praising the democracy the country possesses, he congratulated the contenders and recognized the lead Enrique Peña Nieto, representative of "Alianza por México" (Alliance for Mexico) has; this Alliance is formed by the Institutional Revolution Party (PRI) and the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM). He pointed that, if this tendency continues, he will become Mexico's next President.
Calderón commented on the peaceful and serene atmosphere most of the nation had this day.
International press agencies like CNN, BBC, El Clarín (Argentinean newspaper) amongst others have stated that exit polls as well as preliminary results give Enrique Peña Nieto the victory; in fact, Mexican newspaper with national circulation "El Universal" caused controversy after printing tomorrow's front page before the official data was even revealed and were they show Enrique Peña Nieto as the winner.
Later on Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a message from the Hilton Hotel in Mexico City where he stated that his and his team's position will be "waiting" for the official counting of July 04, a different scenario from that of six years ago.
brenda.colon@sandiegored.com
Original Text : Brenda Colón
Translation : Karen B.
