Mexico Institute in the News: Vote-Buying Efforts Remain Time-Honored as Mexicans Reap Gifts
Poor Mexicans who make up about half of the population have grown to expect gifts come election season. While Lopez Obrador may have a tough time proving that fraud by Pena Nieto’s side swung the election, given the 3.3-million-vote margin, the charges illustrate one of the challenges facing Mexico’s young democracy, said Andrew Selee, Director of the Mexico Institute.
Bloomberg, 7/13/2012
Like Garcia, poor Mexicans who make up about half of the population have grown to expect gifts come election season. While Lopez Obrador may have a tough time proving that fraud by Pena Nieto’s side swung the election, given the 3.3-million-vote margin, the charges illustrate one of the challenges facing Mexico’s young democracy, said Andrew Selee at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Twelve years after one-party rule ended, parties have convinced some voters their support should go to the highest bidder, he said.
“Politicians are preying on peoples’ needs in a way that demeans the quality of their vote,” said Selee, director of the Washington-based center’s Mexico Institute. “It’s always a problem when people see their vote as a tool to get concrete benefits and not as a way of setting long-term policy.”
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The Mexico Institute seeks to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship. A binational Advisory Board, chaired by Luis Téllez and Earl Anthony Wayne, oversees the work of the Mexico Institute. Read more
