Distrust, Low Turnout Mark Voting in Mexico : Elections: State ballot is seen as a test for democracy. Few voters expect opposition victories to be recognized.

Widespread cynicism and a sparse voter turnout marked Sunday’s election for mayors and a legislature in the state of Mexico, the country’s most populous state.

The common message from voters and non-voters alike was distrust. Few of the dozens of people interviewed--from the poor neighborhoods of Nezahualcoyotl to the well-to-do suburbs of Naucalpan--said they believed that the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party would recognize opposition victories.

The election was widely viewed as a test of the government’s commitment to fair suffrage prior to the 1991 national elections for the federal Chamber of Deputies and Senate.

“I don’t believe they will respect the election, but if I don’t vote I am giving away the election,” said Elba Gonzalez, 50, a businesswoman who voted for the conservative National Action Party in Naucalpan.

Homemaker Maria Cruz, 32, agreed: “I vote because I don’t want them to think we’re with them. I want them to see. But, no, I don’t think they’ll respect it.”

Mexico, which is also the country’s wealthiest state, surrounds the capital and houses 30% of the nation’s industry.

Mexico was one of five states in which the government recognized the victory of leftist leader Cuauhtemoc Cardenas in the 1988 presidential election. However, many of those who voted for Cardenas believe that the 1988 election was stolen from him and either cast their ballots skeptically or stayed away from the polls Sunday.

The government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari has invested more than $92 million in public works projects in Mexico state over the last two years in order to win back support for the ruling party, called PRI. In the municipality of Chalco, a poor area where the government has installed electricity and waterworks for tens of thousands of homes, the program appeared to be paying off.

Several voters interviewed there said they cast their ballots for Cardenas in 1988 but would support the PRI this time. While they believed that the government has been installing services precisely because it fears the strength of opposition, they said they would vote PRI now to ensure that projects get finished.

“The PRI has a program,” said Jose Cruz, 46, a vendor in the Santa Cruz market.

The PRI is expected to win the state capital of Toluca and most of the 121 municipalities and 34 legislative seats. Only about 25 of the municipal races, including Naucalpan and Nezahualcoyotl, are considered truly competitive.

In Nezahualcoyotl, where the government has not spent as much money, support for Cardenas’ Democratic Revolutionary Party still appeared to be strong.

“If you don’t vote, they fill in the blank ballots for the PRI,” said Jose Santiago, 31, a government bureaucrat who supports Cardenas. “The PRI is an old party stuck in fraud. The issues here are pavement and police. They promised pavement and didn’t come through. And it’s dangerous to go out at night because you don’t know if you’ll be held up by thieves or by the police.”

Many supporters of both Cardenas and the National Action Party complained that the PRI had distributed free tortillas, wash buckets and other goodies to try to win votes.

There were a few early reports of election-day irregularities--some stolen ballot boxes in Los Reyes La Pazand Naucalpan municipalities. Democratic Revolutionary Party officials said some of their supporters had been threatened in Naucalpan, but no acts of violence were reported.

Generally, voting appeared to take place in an orderly fashion on card tables, kitchen tables and car hoods along main streets. Opposition observers appeared to be present at all polling places.

The PRI’s candidate for municipal president of Naucalpan, Mario Ruiz de Chavez, expected a high voter turnout. “We are confident that will happen and that we will have given a lesson in civic citizenship,” he said.

A random survey of balloting places, however, showed a low turnout of as little as 15% of registered voters in some cases and no more than 30% at the busiest polls.

Some people said they did not vote because they no longer believe in elections.

Jose Garcia, 28, a mechanic from Naucalpan, said he could not vote because government officials who visited him at home recently took away his credential after he told them he planned to vote for the opposition. They promised him a new voter card, but it never arrived, he said.