Mexicans Elect Their Next President · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

On July 1, Mexicans went to the polls to elect their next President. From before the elections, the sentiment among most netizens was that it would be a close race between Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN) from the Institutional Revolutionary Party and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) from the Party of the Democratic Revolution, although supporters of Josefina Vázquez Mota (from the current ruling party) did not lose hope. As soon as the polls opened, netizens began to share their thoughts and experiences.
Twitter user @YONOFUI affirmed:
Hoy es el primer día de un país q comenzará a madurar y se dará cuenta que sin trabajo ciudadano no habrá logros
The hashtag #Elecciones2012 (2012 Elections) quickly became worldwide trending topic.
Many netizens started to organize websites and hashtags to gather reports on fraud and other forms of illegal actions like campaigning near a polling station. Tonatiuh Bravo (@tonatiuhbravo) used one of these hashtags, #Operacion1J, to report the following:
Quieren documentada la compra de credenciales acá el video #Operacion1J yfrog.us/gh5kgiz
“The vote is free and secret”. Mexicans vote at a polling station in Mexico City on July 1, 2012. Photo by Enrique Perez Huerta, copyright by Demotix.
After the first partial results were released, mainstream media from all over the world, including Mexico, rushed to inform that the Electoral Federal Institution (IFE) had projected Enrique Peña Nieto as the winner. While his followers celebrated, some netizens were disappointed and others were dubious.
Peña Nieto was quick to claim victory even after only a small percentage of the votes had been counted, filling his Twitter account (@EPN) with thank you notes and words of victory, which raised the suspicion of fraud among netizens.
¡Muchas gracias a todos los mexicanos! Uds. han hablado y han elegido votar  por un cambio de rumbo.
Freelance journalist Erik de la Regera (@erikdelareguera) asked:
Question: how did IFE manage to make a projection of Peña winning w/ 7-8% with only  <25% of votes counted and the race getting tighter
While the community Think Mexican (@thinkmexican) pointed out:
By declaring EPN winner, AMLO is being pressured by media, Calderón and IFE to concede. Why the rush? What are they afraid of? Real change?
Final results will be released on Wednesday, July 4.