MEXICO CITY (AP):
Mexico's top electoral court on yesterday rejected a ballot-by-ballot recount in the disputed presidential election, angering supporters of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who have kept the nation in turmoil for weeks.
In Mexico's central plaza, thousands of protesters watched the court session on a huge screen, chanting "Vote by vote!" and drowning out the judges' statements. Representatives of Lopez Obrador walked out of the session in protest.
pressing their case
Tens of thousands of Lopez Obrador's supporters have camped out in the capital's center for a week, disrupting business and traffic, to press their case that their candidate was cheated of victory in the July 2 election and to demand that all the votes be recounted.
In their first public session on the dispute, the seven judges of the Federal Electoral Court left open the possibility that they could order a partial recount. The tribunal has until September 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the elections.
Official tallies gave ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon, a former energy secretary, an advantage of less than 0.6 per cent, or about 240,000 votes, out of more than 41 million cast.
