Global Exchange Report on State Electoral Processes in Michoacan, Mexico
globalexch@igc.apc.org
November, 1995
by: Jesus Martinez, Professor of Political Science, Santa Clara University
and Ted Lewis, Mexico program director, Global Exchange
(Preliminary election results can be found at the end of this report.
Final
results will be sent out as they become available.)
On November 12, state elections for governor, state deputies,
and local mayors were held in Michoacan. Simultaneously elections were
held for state deputies and mayoralties in the states of Oaxaca, Puebla,
Sinaloa and Tamaulipus. Additionally, elections for Citizens Councils were
held in Mexico City. Overall, a combined total of 13,645,117 people were
eligible to vote in elections that took place in a context of national
political and economic crisis.
Because Michoacan held the nation's only gubernatorial election and
because of a recent history of electoral fraud and repressive
political violence it received the most scrutiny, much of it from recently
formed civic organizations. Froylan Corro of the Alianza Civica of
Michoacan estimated that statewide 1,500 to 2,000 Michoacanos
participated in some form of independent elections observation. 680
observers officially registered with the State Electoral Commission (IEE).
The groups that registered the most observers were Alianza Civica de
Michoacan, the Grupo de Observadores Unidos por la Paz - "Siervos de la
Nacion", and the Union de Observadores Electorales de Michoacan, A.C.
Of these groups, Alianza Civica is the only group with a nationwide
presence.
Alianza Civica
Alianza Civica is an independent and non-partisan coalition of more
than 400 non-governmental and civic organizations from throughout
Mexico. It was originally formed to provide civic observation of the 1994
presidential elections. Since then Alianza has been involved in observing
and reporting on state and local elections throughout Mexico. Alianza
Civica has also carried out an ongoing campaign of civic education and
organized three grassroots referendums on important national questions
during 1995.
During the November 12 balloting, Alianza Civica organized
observations in the states of Michoacan, Oaxaca, Puebla, and Tlaxcala.
Global Exchange was present at the invitation of Alianza Civica to organize
a delegation to support the observation in Michoacan and to disseminate
information about the election internationally.
Global Exchange
Global Exchange is US based non-profit which has sent non-
governmental elections observers and human rights delegations to many
countries to assist non-governmental civic and human rights organizations
that request our presence. Global Exchange sent a delegation of 115 to
support Alianza Civica in the August 1994 presidential election in Mexico
and had a presence during the recent municipal elections in Chiapas.
Global
Exchange has also sent elections monitors to El Salvador, South Africa,
Haiti, and Guatemala.
Participants in this delegation were Ted Lewis, Global Exchange Mexico
program director; Jesus Martinez, Professor of Political Science at Santa
Clara University; Eric Olsen, Mexico program director of the Washington
Office on Latin America (WOLA); John Tinker, computer engineer; and
Cecilia Sanchez, director of communications for the (Mexican) Citizens
Democracy Movement (MCD).
Context
The Michoacan elections take place in a context marked by eight
years of severe political conflict during which eight elections have been
called into question and post electoral conflict has erupted repeatedly.
Political assassinations of opposition activists, demonstrations, and
sit-ins
have been common and have contributed to social and economic instability
in Michoacan.
In an effort to bring tranquillity to the electoral process this years,
the political parties agreed to adopt a new electoral code which gave a far
larger role to citizens in the electoral process. Opposition party
representatives agreed that the new electoral code was a significant
step in
the direction of fairness, but that through political maneuvering the
PRI had
maintained unbalance influence in the new citizen based structures.
Representatives of all the parties noted that political violence was
virtually
absent during the three month campaign - an achievement that was sullied
when four PRD activists were shot or otherwise injured on the elections
eve. Additionally, representatives from both the left-center
opposition Party
of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the conservative Party of National
Action (PAN) expressed concern about several structures they see as
favoring the long hold of the ruling Party of the Institutional Revolution
(PRI).
The most consistent concerns were 1) high campaign spending
limits and the absence of structures to independently verify the self-
generated spending reports of the parties. 2) The continuing use of public
funds as a means to generate support for the ruling PRI and 3) a
pronounced bias in the print and electronic media in favor of the PRI.
Felipe Calderon, the gubernatorial candidate of the PAN and
Antonio Soto, the State President of the PRD both expressed concern to our
group that the statutory limit of 28,000,000 new pesos for each party's
campaign was excessive. They also expressed suspicion that the PRI had
spent beyond even this limit and lamented their inability to legally
challenge
the summary campaign report the PRI is obligated to submit to the IEE.
Both opposition parties said they would voluntarily submit their spending
records to an independent audit. Jaime Bravo Ramirez, Secretary for
Organization of the state PRI denied that his party had overspent and
impugned the objectivity of La Jornada reporter Rosa Icela Rodriguez who
had reported on the apparent lavish spending on bands, transportation and
gifts in the PRI's closing campaign rally. He also said that he considered
the submission of a report to the IEE to be a sufficient level of reporting.
The use of public funds to support the electoral goals of the ruling
party is an entrenched tradition in Michoacan and Mexico in general.
In this
case the use of PROCAMPO (agricultural subsidy) funds to support the PRI
candidates was alleged. Both PAN and PRD representatives contended that
despite repeated requests that PROCAMPO subsidies be entirely distributed
prior to the election, only thirty percent of the funds had been so
disbursed.
Jorge Manzanera, National Director of Electoral Processes for the PAN
pointed out that funds in question are designated to support the planting
cycle and have not been delivered despite the fact that it is nearly
harvest
time. Jaime Bravo of the PRI denied that any use of funds for electoral
purposes was taking place.
Biased media coverage was also an impediment to fairness in the
election. A carefully documented study carried out by the Alianza Civica
demonstrates that the PRI receives the most attention and favorable
treatment from the print and electronic media. The Voz de Michoacan, the
largest circulation daily in the state devoted 89 percent of its
articles dealing
with the governors race to the PRI candidate. The PRD candidate was
mentioned eight percent of the time and the PAN candidate only three
percent of the time; and when they were mentioned it was usually in an
unfavorable light. This pattern was generalized among most of the states'
newspapers. The Alianza Civica study also revealed television and radio
coverage consistently favored the PRI in terms of amount and content of
coverage.
Finally, there is the issue of impunity. As Marta Perez, Executive
Secretary of the Alianza Civica made clear, there is little fear of
prosecution
among those intent on committing electoral crimes. Despite years of
frequently blatant fraud throughout the country there are no electoral
delinquents. Not a single individual has ever been found guilty of
elections
fraud.
The Actors
Although this brief section focuses on the three main
parties and
their gubernatorial candidates, it is important to emphasize that
analyses of electoral processes in Michoacan require us to consider
the electorate itself as well as governmental institutions and offices, the
private sector, the mass media, NGOs, and research-oriented
institutions such as the University of Guadalajara.
Since 1988, elections in Michoacan have been characterized
by the
conflictive struggle between the PRI and PRD. Today it is clear that
the PAN is also an attractive option to the voters of the state.
Despite the significance of the political parties, analysts have
also called attention to the concentration of power in groups that are
currently beyond the control of voters. Control of the political
system in Michoacan has resided in the hands of a political group
headed by former governor Carlos Torres Manzo. With the exception of
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, who governed in the early eighties, the Torres
Manzo group has remained the hegemonic force in the entity, imposing
its candidates and agenda via the PRI. They have been unwilling to give up
power, continue to engage in electoral fraud, and even disobey instructions
from national leaders of their own party. This has led to a widely held
belief that the group is not afraid to challenge central power when it is
perceived as a threat to its interests. Current governor Ausencio
Chavez and
PRI candidate Victor Tinoco Rubi are considered members of this group.
Thus, despite an appealing personal style, Tinoco Rubi is perceived to owe
his designation as the official party candidate to the undemocratic
elements in the state.
Cristobal Aries and the PRD entered the gubernatorial race
handicapped by an internal party conflict that was not resolved
adequately until just a few weeks before the election. The internal
dispute over the selection of the party's candidate reinforced a
public image of the PRD as a party of disorder and conflict -- an
image created and projected with avid enthusiasm by the pro - PRI mass
media and governmental authorities, notwithstanding the fact that the PRD
has been the victimized of hundreds of political assassinations throughout
Mexico since 1988. Under such a hostile environment the political offer
made by the PRD and Arias was ignored by the mass media and did not
reach the state's voters. The party has been successful in establishing an
impressive base of support in many regions of the state, relying on a
peasant constituency. It has become a majority force in nearly half of the
state's municipalities. Overall, it can be regarded as a young party in the
process of formation that remains at a disadvantage in the current context
against a ruling party supported by resources of the state and dominant
social groups. It is also in an unfavorable position in the nation
against the
PAN, a conservative party that has increased its appeal to the state's
urban
middle class disenchanted with the continuing deterioration of the
quality of
life in Michoacan.
Felipe Calderon belongs to an old PAN family. He has been
groomed by the party to end the bipartisan character of Michoacan's
electoral politics. He has shown an ability to generate enthusiasm
among voters and to provide large numbers of middle class voters to
switch allegiance from the PRI. This was evident in Ciudad Hidalgo,
where the local PRI municipal president and the candidate designated
to succeed him were received with displeasure by voters we met. In
this city and elsewhere, an important aspect of the PAN strategy was
o develop campaigns emphasizing honesty, efficiency, and a commitment
to economic development. It has been the principal beneficiary at the
national level of the economic crisis and the national decomposition
was adopted and implemented by former president Carlos Salinas de
Gorteri and his generation of neoliberals that continue to run the
nation. A strong presence in the Michoacan election reinforces the
PAN's apparent plan to gain control of the Mexican Congress and
Presidency in 1997 and 2000, respectively.
The Bleeding Process : An Eye Witness Report
Our presence in the Michoacan election situation for Nov.
12, 1995
was facilitated by Alianza Civica, Michoacan, which provided an
orientation session and assigned us to cover the electoral process in
the municipalities of Ciudad Hidalgo and Zitacuaro in northeastern
Michoacan, a region with a tradition of PRI domination. The primary
task was to examine events unfolding in casillas (polling place)
selected as part of a state-wide sample designed by Alianza Civica to
evaluate the elections.
The casillas selected by Ted Lewis and Jesus Martinez were
located in a working class neighborhood in Ciudad Hidalgo. However,
we were also encouraged to send some members of our delegation on a
roaming mission to visit other casillas in communities with histories
of electoral problems. One of the five delegation members and Martinez
expressed interest in carrying out such a task, thus the following report
applies to events taking place in Ciudad Hidalgo as well as two other rural
communities, La Venta and San Antonio Villalongin.
1. We arrived at about 8:30 am to the casilla number 0491
located in the Jardin de Ninos Nueva Creacion, at Leandro Valle #170,
we found not one but two casillas, a basica (regular) and an adjunta
(or adjoining) casilla.
2. Neither opened at the scheduled 8:00 am starting time. The
adjunta opened at about 9:15 am, the basica several minutes later.
3. There was confusion on the part of casilla officials as to
the citizens
each casilla was to cover. The basica was listed as covering surnames with
initials starting with "a" through "m", and the adjunta from "m" to
"z". This
created additional confusion among voters for most of the day.
4. The casilla officials committed other errors or mistakes
during the course of the day that reflected an unfamiliarity with the
procedures to be followed. There was no apparent attempt on their
part to be biased in their individual or collective behavior. The
three major parties in the state (PRI, PRD, PAN) were represented in
both casillas.
Significant errors observed during the day include: not carrying
out an actual count, by hand, of the ballots received at the beginning
of the session; not signing the ballots utilized in the electoral
process; permitting an alternate PRI representative to be present at
the desk for casilla officials for nearly half of the day; permitting
for several hours a survey taker of the University of Guadalajara to
approach exiting voters within the school ground and at a distance
that may have violated electoral rules; closing the casilla basica at
6:15 PM at a time when a voter continued voting and three or four
adults had entered the classroom housing the casilla, but not allowing
the latter to cast their votes; an unwillingness on the part of
casilla officials to file an "inconformity" or protest act referring
to events such as the exclusion of these voters. Despite such errors
no "acts of inconformity" were filed.
5. While the above list of problems are minor in significance,
there were other troubling reports we received from representatives
and sympathizers of opposition parties.
Fabian Escovedo, a PAN representative who was examining events in
several casillas, reported receiving information on several
irregularities. In Colonia Francisco Villa, uniformed police officers
were seen voting in one casilla and then, without uniform, voting in
another. He received reports that an individual, Chano Villegas, who
was former "Dirigente of Agua Potable" (director of potable water) was
seen transporting six to eight voters to different casillas. Villegas
is described as an individual with a history of "electoral
delinquency". Escovedo also indicated at least one individual in the
casilla we were observing had been "shaved off", (erased from) the
voters list, and was not allowed to vote. Escovedo also indicated he
had received reports of illegal transportation of voters from casilla
to casilla in red Nissan pickup truck. Later in the evening he also
indicated receiving additional information of other irregularities,
but we did not have the opportunity to discuss them.
Fidel Mar, a local resident who visited casillas throughout the
city reported witnessing a calm process, but also received news of
possible multiple voting taking place by public authorities,
specifically police officers.
Alvaro Maya, a local leader of the Partido de Trabajo (workers
party) reported visiting some 16 casillas in the city, and detecting
several irregularities. In at least three casillas, he witnessed
young people proselytizing in favor of the PAN, while people were
waiting to cast their vote; in the majority of the casillas that he
visited, the ballots had not been counted by hand prior to the opening
of the casilla; six casillas were open an hour to an hour and a half
late; and he also reported seeing suspicious vehicles without license
plates circulating the city.
6. We were also able to detect irregularities in the casilla
#522, located in Escuela Felipe Angeles in the rural community of La
Venta. Upon our arrival to the casilla, we introduced ourselves to
the officials and requested some information from them. The casilla
president, an indigenous woman who identified herself as the
representative of the PRI, appeared to be illiterate and did not know
how many voters were on the list or how many ballots were received.
She referred our questions to a blond, middle class looking woman, who
appeared to be directing the process in the casilla. The grouping of
people near the officials' desk also created an environment
potentially conducive to voter intimidation, in our opinion. This
worrisome situation was further confirmed by another our delegation,
Cecilia Sanchez, who remained in the casilla with another U.S. observer
and witnessed the familiarity of the "presidenta" of the casilla with the
electoral process. According to Cecilia Sanchez, our two observers were
also harassed and verbally attacked by a University of Guadalajara survey
taker, who accused them of violating electoral laws. According to the
survey taker, they had no right to be present at the casilla without
official accreditation and she assumed the authority to publicly
denounce them, creating a scandal that drew the attention of local
residents.
7. In a brief mid-day visit to a casilla in Escuela Primaria
Educacion y Patria in the community of San Antonio Villalongin, we
witnessed a calm electoral process. However, at two other casillas
located in the town's government building there was a concentration of
people near the casillas, also creating a possibly intimidating
environment for voters coming to cast their vote. In a conversation
with a PAN representative also inspecting casillas in this part of the
municipio he reported receiving no news of serious irregularities.
A Concluding Assessment
The November 12 election in Michoacan became a focal point of the
debate over democratic reform in Mexico. The election revealed the
continuing unfairness of the electoral process and a perpetuation of
the structures of power that concentrate influence in the Torres Manzo
group. The permanence of this group in power comes at a time when
there is increasing attention being paid to calls for the development
of a truly federalist system that would grant greater powers to the
state and local governments.
The PRI/Torres Manzo victory also arrives at a time when Roberto
Madrazo in Tabasco, Manuel Bartlett in Puebla, and Ruben Figueroa in
Guerrero, among other governors and political forces, have resisted
the central government's calls for even modest reforms. They have
shown signs of authoritarianism and intolerance for opposition forces.
Their success to date was based on President Zedillo's weakness and
his reliance on them for political support. This reality creates
limits on any plans to carry out a significant reform of
the state.
Many analysts have pointed out that democracy is not an inevitable
outcome of the difficult process Mexico is undergoing. The nation is
facing a generalized crisis in which even rumors of a military coup
de stabilize an already decimated economy and a conflict-ridden
political system that is accumulating numerous unresolved problems,
ranging from indigenous insurgencies to political assassinations and
the unchallenged influence of former president Carlos Salinas de
Gortari.
The emergence of the PAN has altered the relations of power in the
political arena in Michoacan. The conservative party has divided the
vote and made it impossible for any party to claim support of even
half of the electorate. In order to govern and govern well it will be
necessary to establish alliances. It remains to be seen whether this
realignment leads to substantive social, economic, and political
improvements in the state.
Preliminary results (courtesy of Equipo Pueblo)
On Sunday, November 12, elections were carried out in six
states and the Federal District (in Mexico City). Most of
the elections were held without major incidents, although in
Oaxaca violence broke out in several areas. In general, the
National Action Party (PAN) gained significant ground,
including the mayor's office in the capitals of Michoacan,
Puebla, Oaxaca, and Sinaloa. The Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost important seats, but has
apparently won the only gubernatorial election - in
Michoacan. The PRD had some significant wins - especially
municipalities in Michoacan and Oaxaca - but also suffered
major losses.
With 75% of the votes counted in Michoacan (the only state
holding a gubernatorial election) the PRI candidate, Victor
Manuel Tinoco Rubi has claimed victory with 38.6%. The PRD
(31.3% of votes) and the PAN (26.8%) candidates have said
they will not concede until all the votes are counted.
In Puebla, where the governor, Manuel Bartlett, was accused
of openly supporting PRI candidates with state money, the
PAN has won the capital and at least 23 municipalities. A
"technical error" has delayed the reporting of the results,
leading to speculation that there would be fraud. (Manuel
Bartlett was the Interior Secretary in charge of the Federal
Electoral Institute in 1988 during the fraudulent
presidential elections). (La Jornada, Reforma, 13-14
November)
In Oaxaca, 405 of the 570 municipal leaders had already been
chosen in traditional indigenous assemblies referred to as
"Uses and Customs". In some of the other 165 municipalities
that held political party elections, violence broke out .
Three people were killed: Elias Garcia Ortega, a PRI member
and election official; Jose Luis Cortes, a member of the
Indian Organization for Human Rights; and Alberto Antonio
Calderon, the brother of the PRD candidate in Asuncion
Ixtalepec. Another five people were seriously wounded. The
elections were suspended in 23 municipalities due to the
violence. (Reforma, 13 November)
Extremely Low Turnout Taints Citizen Councils
Less than 15% of the electorate turned out to vote for
"Citizen Advisors" in the Federal District. This enormous
abstention rate was due to a widespread belief that the new
post was a farce, primarily because political parties
couldn't openly participate, so voters had no way of knowing
for sure their political tendencies; and the councils won't
have significant decision-making power, they are advisors.
Unfortunately, these elections in Mexico City were a very costly
experiment: 268,493 new pesos (about US $38,356) were spent on the election
the 365 new advisors. (La Jornada/Reforma, 13 November).
More Results
Global Exchange will send a complete breakdown of the voting
tendencies throughout Michoacan as soon as it is available.