Presidential Candidates Target the Undecided EFE
go to original June 25, 2012

Presidential frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto (center), of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, attended a rally Sunday at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca and told supporters that he was confident of victory in next weekend's election. (EFE)

MEXICO CITY - The four Mexican presidential candidates are targeting undecided voters as next Sunday's election approaches, while the Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE, said it was prepared to handle the process of releasing results on election night.

Voting trends in the presidential election will be released starting at 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, July 1, while results based on a count of 90 percent of the ballots should be ready at 2:00 a.m., IFE chairman Leonardo Valdes said.

The four candidates took part in numerous campaign events over the weekend in an effort to reach undecided voters.

Frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, attended a rally Sunday at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca and told supporters that he was confident of victory.

"Together, we are going to leave the practices of the old politics behind, this is a project committed to democracy, liberty and transparency," Peña Nieto said.

The PRI candidate, accompanied by his family and top party leaders, said Mexicans were ready to put behind them a period marked by "economic stagnation, social decline and violence," referring to the nearly 12 years of National Action Party, or PAN, control of the presidency.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, candidate of the Progressive Movement coalition, told supporters at a rally in Nayarit state that they should be alert on election day to prevent fraud, waving a copy of a check allegedly issued by the PRI to buy votes in the state.

"Buying votes is not going to work for them," the former Mexico City mayor said.

The people of Mexico are experiencing a "citizens' awakening" because they are "fed up" with a political system characterized by corruption, injustice and privileges, Lopez Obrador said.

The leftist politician has blamed his narrow defeat at the hands of the PAN's Felipe Calderon in the 2006 presidential election on fraud.

Josefina Vazquez Mota, the PAN candidate, had a busy day on Sunday, visiting Chiapas, Puebla and Veracruz states.

Vazquez Mota urged supporters at a rally in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, to start "the real campaign" on Wednesday, when she officially wraps up her campaign, by convincing friends and relatives to vote for her.

The PAN candidate said she was the best choice for voters because she would continue the economic stability and development experienced in Mexico in recent years.

Vazquez Mota said she was catching up to Peña Nieto and would prove the polls wrong.

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