Few Voted on Whether President Lopez Obrador Stays or Goes CTVNews
go to original April 12, 2022

Mexico´s President Andres Manuel López Obrador shows his identification card outside his polling station in Mexico City. (AP/Eduardo Verdugo)

Fewer than two of every 10 eligible Mexican voters bothered to cast ballots Sunday on whether their popular president should end his six-year term barely midway through or continue to the end, according to the National Electoral Institute's initial statistical estimate.

Participation in the referendum was estimated to be between 17% and 18% of eligible voters, less than half the participation required for the result to be binding.

Early returns, as expected, showed an overwhelming tendency toward having President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador finish out his term, with nearly all ballots backing the leader.

Lorenzo Cordova, president of the National Electoral Institute, stressed that it was a statistical estimate based on a sampling of ballots, but with 95% reliability. He said the estimate indicated that better than 90% of those who did vote were in favour of Lopez Obrador remaining in office.

It was Lopez Obrador who pushed for the first-ever referendum of its kind in Mexico.

It was considered a safe bet. The referendum is only binding if at least 40% of the country’s electorate votes — something experts believed unlikely — and Lopez Obrador has maintained approval ratings around 60%.

With that in mind critics decried the exercise as a waste of money — almost US$80 million — and just a way for Lopez Obrador to rally his base midway through his time in office. For someone known as an eternal campaigner the expected reaffirmation of support makes sense, but for a president outspoken about austerity it raised questions.

Read the rest at CTVNews

Related: In Puerto Vallarta, Revocation of Mandate Was a Failure (Vallarta Independiente)

Related: Mexico’s President Declares Victory After Recall Vote, Which Critics Say Was Rigged (Associated Press)

Related: Armed Men Enter Voting Center in Puerto Vallarta and Stuff Two Ballot Boxes With Fake Votes (Vallarta Daily News)

Related: Governor of Nayarit Casts His Vote in Consultation to Revoke AMLO’s Mandate (American Post)

Related: 90% Support Amlo in Sunday’s Recall Vote, but Fewer Than 20% Voted (Mexico News Daily)

Related: Mexico President López Obrador Wins Recall Referendum Amid Low Turnout (NewsInAmerica.com)