Court adds 5th candidate to Mexico's presidential ballot

MEXICO CITY – Mexico's top electoral court has ordered that a fifth candidate be added to the ballot for the July 1 presidential election.

Jaime "El Bronco" Rodriguez, an independent candidate often seen astride a horse in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, had been kept off the ballot last month by the electoral institute for not collecting enough legitimate signatures.

But the court ruled early Tuesday in a 4-3 vote that Rodriguez was not given a sufficient opportunity to contest signatures that officials had rejected. It said he should be added immediately since the official campaign period began nearly two weeks ago.

Rodriguez is the second independent candidate in the race, joining Margarita Zavala, a lawyer and former lawmaker and first lady.