Strides for Mexican Democracy

The results of Sunday’s elections in three states of Mexico were uncertain before the actual voting, and that’s good news for the growth of Mexican democracy. The winners in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Aguascalientes were not proclaimed until all ballots were counted. Certainly that’s not the way the system worked in earlier years.

More important is the fact that last Sunday and in July’s elections in three other states, the results were a mixed bag, this in a country that consistently elected, one way or the other, representatives of the Revolutionary Institutional Party for more than half a century. So far this year, the PRI has won the governor’s office in four states, including Chihuahua, where the office had been held by the opposition National Action Party, known as PAN. PAN and the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, have won one governorship each.

Part of the change can clearly be laid to Mexico’s new and independent Federal Electoral Institute and several similar state institutes that have largely eliminated electoral fraud.

The old power structures are collapsing under the weight of public opinion. Mexican voters are increasingly voting their own consciences, rejecting strict conformity with ideological and partisan programs.

Of course, not all has changed. Access to the media is not equal, and the limits on campaign financing are not strictly observed. There’s room for improvement. But the recent voting represents a very modern development for Mexico.