Mexico Opposition Charges Vote Fraud, Demands New Elections in Sonora State

Discouraged by what they say is growing evidence of electoral fraud, leaders of the opposition National Action Party on Monday demanded new elections in Sonora state, but they stopped short of calling for demonstrations or street protests.

The tone of the party leaders’ reaction was one of resignation and bitterness, rather than anger.

For the moment, they appeared unwilling to confront the authority of the government and the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), despite vows made during the campaign that they would never tolerate fraud.

“We must convince the people that we are the ones that abide by the legal rules,” said a subdued Adalberto Rosas, National Action’s losing candidate for governor in Sonora. “You may think we’re fools, but that is a necessary step.”

The government has until July 14 to issue the official results of Sunday’s elections. A news release by the PRI, however, claimed that the party’s own compilation of returns from around the country showed it to have scored a sweeping triumph.

The balloting was for all 400 deputies in the lower house of Congress, governors in seven of the nation’s 31 states and some state legislatures and municipal offices.

Here in Sonora, PRI said its calculations showed it won 100% of the 69 municipal races in the state, as well as every race for Congress and the state legislature.

As Rosas spoke to reporters at National Action’s small blue-and-white headquarters building on a narrow side street in Hermosillo, party members from throughout the city and surrounding area continued to arrive. Each brought a new report of stuffed ballot boxes, inflated vote totals, phony registration lists, disqualified poll watchers and other complaints.

Quelling the Anger

The party’s leaders tried to quell their anger.

Norberto Corella, the state party organizer who had been outspoken before the election about plans to close down highways or the road leading to Hermosillo’s airport in case of vote fraud, said that he had informed Gov. Samuel Ocana by telephone of the party’s demand that the elections be nullified.

And what if they aren’t nullified? he was asked.

As he started to reply, he was interrupted by a young party member from the small rural community of Huachinera, who had driven all night to Hermosillo to lodge his complaints at party headquarters.

“If he doesn’t, the people on inauguration day are going to take to the streets. . . ,” the young member, Gilardo Davila, started to say. At that point, he was silenced by Corella, who calmly reassured reporters that new elections would be held eventually.

Anticipates No Trouble

“The people of Sonora are peace-loving citizens as long as their rights are not infringed,” Corella asserted. “As long as the authorities abide by law, by justice, there will be no violence. I do not anticipate any trouble.”

In the weeks and months before the election, Corella and other party leaders had spoken ominously about “the wrath of the people” if the authorities and the PRI resorted to electoral tricks. On Monday, questioned about National Action-led protest rioting in the border town of San Luis Rio Colorado, he replied blandly, “I think we can keep that anger under control.”

Rosas, the gubernatorial candidate, canceled plans to hold a rally in downtown Hermosillo on Monday, but he promised he would hold one later in the week. He seemed less certain than Corella that the outgoing governor would grant new elections.

The leaders of the National Action Party--PAN, as it is called here after its initials in Spanish--were undecided about their strategy. Corella said that for the moment, they intended to circulate petitions in all precincts of the state in an effort to gather enough signatures to demonstrate that the party has majority support.

Request Never Granted

Demands for new elections by losing candidates in Mexican elections are not new, but no Mexican official or political observer here could recall a single instance during the 56 years that the PRI has dominated politics when such a request was granted.

Corella spoke by telephone with Gov. Ocana several times late Sunday night. He said the governor has agreed to the release of more than 30 PAN members who were accused of staging a riot in San Luis Rio Colorado.

Corella explicitly denied, however, that a deal has been struck between the PRI and the PAN to avoid street demonstrations in return for the release of the jailed party members.

Rosas also denied a report that his party had struck a backroom deal with the ruling party under which he would accept a few minor victories in local elections in Sonora in return for avoiding street demonstrations that could lead to violence and unfavorable international publicity for Mexico.

The 1985 elections have been among the most closely scrutinized in recent Mexican history. This is largely due to President Miguel de la Madrid’s “moral renovation” campaign, which promised a reduction in political corruption and a cleaner democratic system.

“I have been in elections for 21 years,” Corella said. “I have never seen a dirtier election as (sic) this one. They have resorted to fraudulent methods they were using 40 years ago.”

He added, “(Sunday’s) incidents constitute one of the severest blows that the president’s moral renovation campaign can suffer.”