[JURIST] Several hundred thousand protestors camped out in Mexico City's major business district Monday to rally against the defeat of presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [campaign website, in Spanish; Wikipedia profile] in the country's July 2 election [JURIST report] and call for a ballot recount. The protestors, who were led by Lopez Obrador, brought the capital city's Reforma boulevard and the nearby Zocalo square to a standstill, causing traffic jams and business delays at the headquarters of many major corporations located on the street. Lopez Obrador's supporters claim fraudulent practices [JURIST report] allowed conservative candidate Felipe Calderon [campaign website, in Spanish; Wikipedia profile] to win the election by a mere 0.6 of a percentage point [JURIST report] and are calling for a manual recount of the votes.

Observers from the European Union [official website] have said that they witnessed no fraud in their review of the election, but Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal [official website, in Spanish] is now considering whether to allow a recount [JURIST report]. The seven judges will decide whether to recalculate the ballots by August 31 and many of Lopez Obrador's supporters are expected to continue protesting in the capital until a decision is reached. Mexico City police are unlikely to intervene since Lopez Obrador was mayor of the capital city prior to his presidential bid and the police force is still led by his Democratic Revolution Party [party website, in Spanish]. Reuters has more.