Mexico Trucker Online

Leftist presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused the Federal Electoral Institute of manipulating the preliminary vote tally.

He demanded a recount to take place before officials announce a winner.

“They aren’t registering the numbers properly and it’s affecting us,” López Obrador, of the Democratic Revolution Party, said at a news conference late Monday at his campaign headquarters.

With 98 percent of the votes counted, he trailed Felipe Calderón, of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, by about 1 percent, or nearly 400,000 votes. An official declaration of a winner was postponed Sunday night until after a previously scheduled recount begins Wednesday. That recount could last until Sunday.

“They have to explain everything that we have asked,” López Obrador said. “The best thing for the public of the country is that no doubts remain about the process.”

In an interview with Televisa earlier in the day, López Obrador vowed that he would respect the final tally if the electoral institute shared information to assure the authenticity of the results.

That way, he said, “If we lose the election, I am going to recognize it and if we win, even if it’s by one or two votes, I am going to defend the triumph with my arguments and reasons.”

He maintained his calm Monday, asking supporters to stay alert as he follows legal avenues to ensure each vote is counted.

López Obrador may encourage supporters to rally in the coming days. But analysts said he’s unlikely to take more radical action.

That’s because, at 52, López Obrador has at least one, and likely more chances at Mexico’s presidency. His political movement did well in Sunday’s election — even if he eventually loses — and could pick up further support in the coming years if the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which had ruled for 71 years until 2000, erodes as many analysts expect it to.

While pushing for a fair and full count of the votes, some analysts say, López Obrador will have to take care not to spook the Mexican public. During the election campaign, Calderón rose in opinion polls by painting López Obrador as a radical power-monger who is “a danger for Mexico.”

“There are limits to what he can do in contesting this,” said Pamela Starr, an analyst with the Washington-based Eurasia Group, a consultancy firm, who was in Mexico for Sunday’s vote.

But it’s unclear how long the masses he draws will keep the peace. Their optimism for victory — some followers were already carrying signs last week announcing his win — started to wane Monday.

Tension — and flat out frustration — emerged on the street corner in front of López Obrador’s campaign headquarters in the middle of the day Monday.

Doroteo Albarran, 42, a car wash owner, said he wasn’t sure how long he could wait.

“We are going to respect the wishes of Andrés Manuel (López Obrador) to be peaceful, but we are not willing to sit here and let them steal the presidency that he legitimately won based on the facts,” he said.

Nearby was Rogelio Melendez Infante, 69, a salesman. “We need a recount, ballot box for ballot box, vote for vote,” he said.