Partial recount in Mexico won't erase lead of ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon

(AP) A partial recount in Mexico's disputed presidential race won't erase the lead of ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon, the country's top electoral court said Monday, but the judges held off from declaring him the winner.

The court announced the number of votes it had annulled as the result of 375 challenges in the July 2 election, reducing Calderon's 240,000-vote lead by just over 4,000 votes.

The leftist Democratic Revolution Party immediately denounced the Federal Electoral Tribunal's decision, with spokesman Gerardo Fernandez telling hundreds at protest camps in Mexico City's Zocalo plaza: "It's clear the tribunal isn't up to the task. It's preparing to impose the right's candidate."

However, the judges put off announcing a final vote tally as well as their decision on the request by leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to annul the election entirely. The court's seven judges have until Sept. 6 to declare a president-elect or annul the election.

The court annulled more than 230,000 votes, with the ruling National Action Party losing 81,080 votes, the largest loss of any party.

Lopez Obrador's coalition lost 76,897 votes, and the rest of the annulled votes were divided among smaller parties.

Lopez Obrador's party has argued that the campaign was dirty and that fraud was responsible for Calderon's slight lead. He and his supporters have also questioned the Federal Electoral Tribunal's ability to resolve the dispute fairly.

Several of the judges defended their work in an open session Monday as dozens of protesters pressed against the courthouse gates, demanding that the election be given to Lopez Obrador despite the narrow advantage for Calderon.

"Tolerance, the ability to listen, has prevailed over everything else," chief justice Leonel Castillo said.

He praised court officials, saying some had worked 20-hour days to review huge stacks of evidence submitted by both leading parties. All of the challenges are now resolved, the court said.

The judges repeatedly said they could annul votes only when it wasn't clear which party the voter was supporting, saying each challenge had to be specific and backed up by evidence.

"You can't just say: 'Well, there were irregularities,'" Castillo said, an apparent jab at Lopez Obrador's strategy of criticizing the electoral process generally and demanding a complete recount. The judges rejected that plea on Aug. 5, saying it was unnecessary and even illegal.

Lopez Obrador claims fraud gave Calderon the edge of less than 0.6 percent. He has led street demonstrations and set up protest camps that have snarled traffic. He said Sunday he would ask his supporters during a rally on Sept. 16 _ Mexico's Independence Day _ whether he should declare himself the "alternative" president-elect.

The former Mexico City mayor has already said he doesn't trust Mexico's electoral authorities and is already focusing on how to fight what appears to be a likely ruling against him.

But some of Lopez Obrador's supporters were still optimistic.

"I believe they will give a good ruling, a ruling in favor of the people," said Elvia Araujo, a health clinic volunteer from the neighboring state of Mexico.

President Vicente Fox leaves office Dec. 1, like all Mexican presidents limited to a single, six-year term.

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Associated Press writer Mark Stevenson contributed to this report.