IFE Mexico Elections 2012: Fraud Charges to Be Brought against Peña Nieto and PRI

By David Salazar | First Posted: Jul 02, 2012 10:55 PM EDT

Supporters of Enrique Pena Nieto, presidential candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), celebrate at the party headquarters in Mexico City, July 1, 2012. (Photo : REUTERS/Edgard Garrido)

Presidential Candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stated that he plans to present evidence to the electoral authorities accusing rival Enrique Pena Nieto and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of fraud and vote buying on Sunday's Mexican elections.

According to Bloomberg.com, Lopez Obrador claimed that Pena Nieto benefitted when the PRI bought about one million votes and exceeded the campaign spending limit.

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Lopez Obrador was the former mayor of Mexico City and has been known for being a controversial political figure. After losing the 2006 elections to President Felipe Calderon by less than a percentage point, Lopez Obrador's followers blockaded the capital's main commercial boulevard for weeks.

Pena Nieto's party spokesman Eduardo Sanchez aggressively denied the accusations and stated that the charges were "offensive to the dignity of the voters who supported Pena Nieto."

According to Bloomberg.com, the PRI currently leads by 3.2 million votes with 99 percent of the ballots already counted.

Pena Nieto won 38.2 percent of the votes with Lopez Obrador at a distant second with 31.6.

Josefina Vasquez Mota of the National Action Party, PAN, obtained 25.4 percent of the vote.

The victory puts the PRI back in power for the first time since 2000, when they lost the election after seven decades as the only ruling party. Their lengthy rule was infamous for its corruption and violence.