Election annulled in Mexico over publicity on boxer's shorts

Dec 28, 2011, 19:42 GMT

Mexico City - Mexico's electoral authorities annulled Wednesday the results of an election in the western city of Morelia because a boxer illegally displayed a winning party sign on his shorts during a televised boxing match.

Under Mexican election rules, there can be no campaigning three full days before an election. The municipal election in Morelia was held on November 13, with no campaigning allowed starting November 10.

Electoral authorities ruled that the boxing match was broadcast on television on November 12 in which one of the contenders wore a symbol of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) on his shorts.

The fight, pitting Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez against Filipino Manny Pacquiao, was held in the United States, but Marquez was found to have violated the campaigning ban nonetheless.

In addition, the authorities found that a campaign-closing event of the PRI candidate had been broadcast on TV when campaigning was already banned.

Electoral authorities ruled that these constituted 'violations to the constitutional principles of certainty, equality and legality.'

The election was won by Wilfrido Lazaro, the candidate of the PRI. The National Action Party (PAN) of Mexican President Felipe Calderon disputed the results in Morelia, which is Calderon's native city.

PAN candidate Marko Cortes, who came second in a close election, said the annulment was 'a triumph for democracy.'

A new election is now to be held in Morelia, the capital of the western Mexican state of Michoacan.