Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Details on efforts to prevent voter fraud in Mexico

We don't often learn about the detailed, bureaucratic work that goes into preventing voter fraud — especially in Mexico, where history suggests that corruption is common.

These details come from an experienced Mexican official who is earning a Ph.D at New York University, Marco A. Morales.

Revisiting Fraud and the 2012 Mexican Presidential Election

A bit of Mexican electoral history could provide some necessary context. Decades of one-party dominance supported by tampering with the vote created a plethora of allegories for common electoral practices…

With these precedents, it is no surprise that recent Mexican electoral history is characterized by attempts to foster trust in electoral outcomes, primarily by coping with three main forms of electoral fraud: controlling who votes, tampering with the vote count, and vote buying.

The first type of fraud – on the voter list – has been addressed through a voter registration list that is administered by an autonomous electoral authority…

The second type of fraud – in the counting of votes – has been addressed with multiple layers of scrutiny. Polling stations are manned by randomly selected citizens, whose performance can be audited in situ by party representatives and citizen observers…

The third one – vote buying – has been addressed by making it a criminal offense that is to be investigated by a Special Prosecutor. But as many have pointed out, the challenge on this specific area is considerable as evidence should show beyond doubt that the “incentive” did change the original vote intent and that these “sold” votes changed the outcome of the election…

To summarize, there were no complaints of the first type of fraud on this election. And while there were plenty of complaints of the second type of fraud, they were for the most part addressed and dispelled in the process that just ended. What lies ahead are complaints of the third type of fraud: massive vote buying.