Following a recount of more than half the votes, Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) has confirmed Enrique Peña Nieto as the winner of the July 1 presidential election.
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate won 19.2 million votes, 38.21 percent of all ballots cast. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) remained in second place with 15.9 million votes or 31.59 percent.
Josefina Vazquez Mota of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) won just 12.8 million votes, 25.41 percent of the total.
Based on a recount of ballots from 78,469 of the nation’s 143,132 polling booths, the new figures are virtually unchanged from the results of the quick count released on the night of the election. Lopez Obrador dropped by 0.06 percent of the vote while Peña Nieto rose by 0.05 percent.
Despite the outcome, Peña Nieto is still not officially the president-elect. Lopez Obrador has charged the PRI with vote buying, vowing to present evidence at 6 p.m. on Thursday which proves Peña Nieto’s party bought at least five million votes.
Under Mexican electoral law, all challenges presented by the political parties must be resolved before a final result is declared.
The Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) will determine whether the voting took place in accordance with electoral law, and whether the alleged irregularities would have changed the outcome. The TEPJF must then name the president-elect before the September 9 deadline.
In Jalisco, PRI candidate Jorge Aristoteles Sandoval Diaz has been named the governor-elect. Sandoval won the state election with 1,309,836 votes, while Enrique Alfaro Ramirez of the Citizen’s Movement came second with 1,160,870 votes, the Jalisco Electoral Institute (IEPC) confirmed on Sunday.
In the national congressional elections, IFE confirmed the PRI won 15.6 million votes, (31.3 percent) the PAN received 13.1 million (26.3 percent) and the PRD came third with 9.3 million (18.6 percent).
This will leave the PRI with the largest number of representatives in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, but without an outright majority in either house. IFE has until August 23 to confirm the number of seats assigned to each party through proportional representation.