Zogby: Mexicans Don't Want Election Protest

Newsmax
Jul. 06, 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.