[JURIST] The seven judges of Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal [official website, in Spanish] Saturday heard arguments by lawyers for leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [campaign website, in Spanish] for a full recount of the July 2 presidential poll which Obrador lost by 0.6 percent [JURIST report] to conservative Felipe Calderon [campaign website, in Spanish]. Obrador's legal team is arguing that there were errors, falsifications and other problems at over half of Mexico's 130,000 polling places, and that a recount would clarify any dispute concerning the election. Calderon, however, maintains that "the election was clean, it was competitive, it was closely observed." The Electoral Tribunal must declare a winner or annul the election by September 6.

Last week Obrador filed a criminal complaint [JURIST report] against the Federal Electoral Institute [official website, in Spanish], the commission that oversaw the vote. Pending a resolution of the electoral crisis, Obrador is continuing to encourage "peaceful civil resistance" [JURIST report], and has organized supporters for another mass protest Sunday. AP has more.