Zogby: Mexicans Don't Want Election Protest

Newsmax | July 6 2006

As Mexican election officials begin their recount of the ballots from Sunday's presidential election and the political parties wrangle over voting irregularities, a majority of Mexican voters are looking on with a wary eye, a recent Zogby poll shows.

The survey, sponsored by the University of Miami School of Communication, showed that a majority of Mexican voters would not look kindly on a protest of the election results. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed - 60 percent - said they would not support a protest of the vote by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the PRD party. Just 30 percent said they would support a protest.

Leaders of Obrador's party have called for a recount of votes, but have stopped short of organizing massive, all-out protests.

News reports showed Conservative PAN party candidate Felipe Calderon Hinojosa clinging to a razor-thin lead in the race over left wing competitor Obrador. A third candidate, Roberto Madrazo Pinitado of the PRI party, finished further back.

Asked if such a protest would be good for Mexican democracy, just 32 percent agreed, while 53 percent said it would be a bad thing for the nation’s political system.

The University of Miami School of Communication/Zogby poll had Calderon with 34.5% support, compared with 31.3% for the PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and 27.1% for PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo Pinitado. After Sunday's election, Calderon led by just one percent before today's recount.

Zogby's pre-election survey, conducted June 10-15, 2006, included 1,000 respondents and carried a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.

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