September 06, 2006

Abstract: - Many adults in Mexico think their country is democratic, according to a poll by Reforma. 70 per cent of respondents say people can vote freely, and 63 per cent believe they can express themselves without restraint in the Latin American nation.

- Many adults in Mexico think their country is democratic, according to a poll by Reforma. 70 per cent of respondents say people can vote freely, and 63 per cent believe they can express themselves without restraint in the Latin American nation.

Allegations of fraud surfaced during and after the 1988 Mexican presidential election, when the government blamed the breakdown of a computer system for unexpected delays in the distribution of results. In the end, Carlos Salinas de Gortari—the nominee for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)—was declared the winner with 50.7 per cent of the vote, defeating Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the National Democratic Front (FDN).

The Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) was established in 1990 as an autonomous entity responsible for organizing federal elections in Mexico. Previously, the interior secretariat had been in charge of all election-related activities. 48 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the way democracy works in Mexico, up six points since June.

Mexican voters chose their new president on Jul. 2. Yesterday, Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal (TRIFE) declared that Felipe Calderón of the governing National Action Party (PAN) was the winner with 36.68 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) with 36.11 per cent.

López Obrador had filed a legal challenge to the election result, alleging widespread fraud, and calling for a hand recount of every ballot. European Union (EU) election monitors did not report any irregularities in the vote count.

The TRIFE also censured the behaviour of Mexican president Vicente Fox during the campaign, claiming his statements "constituted a risk to the validity of the election."

The PAN's Fox ended 71 years of uninterrupted rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the 2000 election, winning a six-year term with 42.5 per cent of the vote. The Mexican president will step down on Dec. 1.

Polling Data

Would you say people can vote freely in Mexico?

Yes	70%
No	28%
Not sure	2%

Would you say people can express themselves freely in Mexico?

Yes	63%
No	33%
Not sure	4%

Overall, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way democracy works in Mexico?

	Aug. 2006	Jun. 2006
Satisfied	48%	42%
Dissatisfied	42%	45%
No opinion	10%	13%

Source: Reforma
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,515 Mexican adults, conducted from Aug. 18 to Aug. 20, 2006. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.