Mexican voters cast ballots in critical election
July 6, 1997
Web posted at: 12:15 p.m. EDT (1615 GMT)MEXICO CITY (CNN) -- Mexican voters streamed to polling stations Sunday, casting their ballots in critical midterm elections that could transform the nation's political landscape after more than 60 years of same-party rule.
Voting appeared to be going smoothly at the 104,700 polling stations, many of which opened later than the scheduled 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) starting time.
Tens of thousands of police were on duty to guarantee security for the election, billed by officials as the cleanest yet in a country with a long history of polling fraud.
Preliminary official results were expected a few hours after the 6 p.m./7 p.m. EDT (2200-2300 GMT) election close.
PRI faces stiff challenge
About 52 million voters were eligible to cast ballots for a new Congress. All 500 seats in the lower house, or Chamber of Deputies, are up for grabs. In addition, 32 senators will be chosen.
Voters in six states also will select new governors. And, for the first time this century, residents of Mexico City will vote for a mayor. Previously, the politically sensitive post was appointed by the president.
Many opinion polls suggest that the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, could lose control of Congress for the first time ever.
Founded in 1929, the PRI is the world's longest-ruling party. It has held on to power with a grip so strong that critics have labeled it "the perfect dictatorship." But in recent years, Mexico's ailing economy, a string of political scandals and increasingly democratic elections have whittled away the party's standing with the electorate.
Under a complicated voting system, the PRI needs at least 42 percent of the vote to achieve a majority in the lower house of Congress. Several opinion polls show it falling below that figure, putting President Ernesto Zedillo in the extraordinary position of facing a possible majority of lawmakers from opposition parties.
Many observers also say the PRI stands a fair chance of losing two of the six state elections.
A win by Cardenas could launch presidential bid
In the Mexico City mayoral race, opposition leader Cuauhtemoc Cardenas Solorzano of the Democratic Revolutionary Party holds a commanding lead in opinion polls.
The veteran politician narrowly lost the 1988 presidential race through what many observers allege was electoral fraud at the hands of the PRI.
If Cardenas becomes the new mayor of Mexico City, he would be in a powerful position to launch his third presidential bid in 2000.
Mexico City is widely regarded as a barometer of the nation's mood. The world's most populous city has long been one of contrasts, the gap between rich and poor plain to see.
The glitzy Polanco district, with its designer clothing stores and luxury car showrooms, is just one of the city's playgrounds for the rich.
The other end of the socioeconomic spectrum is represented by areas such as Ixtapalapa, where land squatters coexist alongside their livestock and chickens, and children play on dirt roads lined with garbage.
Many accuse government of ignoring the poor
It is voters in areas such as this who may make the difference in Sunday's election.
Worker Luis Aruro speaks for many when he accuses the current civic government of failing to address the needs of Mexico City's poorest residents. Aruro says he and others in his situation are tired of false hope.
Another bloc expected to push for change is that of female voters, including many in the upper strata of society who say they recognize the dangers of maintaining the status quo.
Such sentiments have been voiced in the past -- both in Mexico City and the country as a whole. But fears of trusting an untested regime have prompted voters to opt for the status quo at the very last minute.
Such is the demand this time for change, however, that Sunday's elections are expected to usher in a new era in Mexican politics -- an era which, many say, should have dawned a long time ago.
- Newsmaker Profile: Ernesto Zedillo - Newsmaker Profile
Special Section:
- Mexico Elections '97 in English
- Elecciones Mexicanas '97 En Español
Related stories:
- Mexico at a crossroads with Sunday's crucial elections - July 5, 1997
- Mexican elections seen as barometer of discontent - July 4, 1997
- Mexico City mayoral wannabes plug themselves one more time - July 2, 1997
- At final rally, PRI doesn't have much to celebrate - June 29, 1997
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