Mexico’s Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) Monday announced that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador survived a special mandate revocation vote by a large margin. López Obrador called the vote amid his six-year term.

The referendum asked: “Do you agree that Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of the United Mexican States, have his mandate revoked due to loss of confidence or continue in the Presidency of the Republic until his term ends?”

As of 3:00 PM on Monday, the INE received a total of 16,489,692 votes. 1,062,560 citizens, or 6.44 percent, voted to recall López Obrador. 15,147,562 voters, or 91.86 percent, voted that the president should serve the remainder of his term.

The INE estimates that about 17.8 percent of voters participated in the referendum. Turnout fell far short of the citizen participation requirement, the 40 percent threshold at which the results would be mandatory.

In a statement, López Obrador said: “We participate in the historic democratic exercise that is taking place today throughout the country. Democracy must be a way of life, a habit of Mexicans so that no one feels absolute. The people are the ones who rule.”

Critics called the vote a “propaganda stunt.” Luis Rubio, President of thinktank México Evalúa said the event helped López Obrador’s popularity but “contribute[d] little to the development of the county.”