Past Incidents of Mexico Election Fraud

The Associated Press

Major incidents of fraud in Mexico presidential elections:

_1988: Early returns show leftist Cuauhtemoc Cardenas leading, but a computerized election system mysteriously fails, and when it is reconnected hours later, Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, candidate Carlos Salinas wins by a narrow margin.

_1958: PRI candidate Adolfo Lopez Mateos defeats National Action Party, or PAN, candidate Luis H. Alvarez with 90.56 percent of the vote. Alvarez was not allowed any radio time and was jailed during the campaign on the charge of 'being an opposition candidate.'

_1940: PRI candidate Manuel Avila Camacho wins with 93.9 percent of the vote over independent Gen. Juan Andrew Almazan in an election marred by violent clashes and credible accusations of vote fraud. A number of Almazan's followers were persecuted and killed.

_1910: Riots break out after elections widely considered rigged give another term to Porfirio Diaz, who rules Mexico for 30 years with an iron fist. Officials say opponent Francisco I. Madero only received a few hundred votes in the entire country. Madero calls the Mexican people to take up arms and fight against the government, launching the Mexican Revolution.