Distrust, Low Turnout Mark Voting in Mexico : Elections: The two leading opposition parties accuse the state government of vote tampering. The ruling party claims victory.

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

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 two leading opposition parties both accused the government of tampering with the returns. With early, unofficial results, the ruling party, called PRI, claimed victory in Naucalpan--the crown jewel of Mexico state and the nation’s wealthiest municipality.

With 60% of the Naucalpan vote counted, the PRI candidate for municipal president, Mario Ruiz de Chavez, said: “The tendency is in favor of our party. The trend is unalterable.”

The opposition National Action Party also claimed to be leading in the key municipality.

“If the PRI is claiming victory already, they are not very serious about change,” said Diego Fernandez, a National Action spokesman. “The government has acted in a dirty and irresponsible manner.”

Mexico, the country’s richest and most populated state, surrounds the capital and houses 30% of the nation’s industry. The state vote is being viewed as a test of the government’s commitment to fair elections before the 1991 national elections for the federal Chamber of Deputies and Senate.

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

High absenteeism was expected to favor the PRI throughout the state. Observers predicted that the ruling party would win the state capital of Toluca and a majority of the 121 municipalities and 34 legislative seats. Only about 25 of the municipal races, including Naucalpan and Nezahualcoyotl, were considered truly competitive.

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 an attempt to win back support for the 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 had cast their ballots for Cardenas in 1988 but would support the PRI this time. Although they said they believe 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.

In Nezahualcoyotl, where the government has not spent as much money, however, 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.”

National Action Party supporters at the polls were equally suspicious of the government.

“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.”

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.

Both opposition parties said they had early reports of election day irregularities, including some stolen ballot boxes in Los Reyes La Paz, Naucalpan and Chimalhuacan municipalities.

“I don’t think there is a single municipality win in which there weren’t quite serious irregularities,” said Democratic Revolutionary Party spokesman Ricardo Pascoe.

“The two big aspects of electoral fraud in Mexico today were a change in the location of polling places and the massive use of ‘flying brigades’ of voters,” he said, referring to groups that he charged voted several times.

In a random survey of polling places, two reporters turned up no major irregularities. The survey did find low turnout--only 15% of registered voters in some precincts and no more than 30% at the busiest.

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.

In Naucalpan, some National Action supporters said they thought they could keep the government from stealing the vote. They pointed to last year’s election for governor of Baja California, won by their party’s candidate, Ernesto Ruffo.

“Things aren’t like they were before,” said Dr. Miguel Angel Solano, 33. “People will be all over them if they try to commit fraud.”