November 30, 2005

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Scan) - Some adults in Mexico are worried about the possibility of tampering in next year's presidential election, according to a poll by Parametría. 40 per cent of respondents think designing a special envelope to place the ballots of Mexicans who reside abroad will be a safe method to guard against possible fraud, while 39 per cent disagree.

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Some adults in Mexico are worried about the possibility of tampering in next year's presidential election, according to a poll by Parametría. 40 per cent of respondents think designing a special envelope to place the ballots of Mexicans who reside abroad will be a safe method to guard against possible fraud, while 39 per cent disagree.

In February, Mexico's Chamber of Deputies approved a controversial proposal to allow Mexicans living abroad to vote in the 2006 presidential election. On Aug. 30, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) and Mexico's foreign secretariat signed a collaboration agreement to facilitate the process.

The new regulation will allow 4.2 million Mexican registered voters to cast postal ballots. Current Mexican president Vicente Fox expressed satisfaction with the outcome, declaring, "We have guaranteed (Mexicans living abroad) that they will never again be absent from the country's democratic life."

Mexico's state-run postal service and the IFE have agreed on a system where two different envelopes will be used to collect the votes and gather the information to ensure that the voter is properly registered.

Polling Data

Do you think designing a special envelope to place the ballots of Mexicans who reside abroad will be a safe method to guard against possible fraud?

Yes	40%
No	39%
Not sure	19%
No reply	2%

Source: Parametría
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Mexican adults, conducted from Aug. 25 to Aug. 29, 2005. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.