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 Editorials | Issues | April 2007 
Report: Over 1 Million on Mexico Voter Rolls Already Dead
 Jorge Herrera - El Universal
| | "Although the totals are not of grave concern, the fact that the numbers are increasing indicates that actions must be taken to resolve the problem." |
The names of the dead are not being removed from the official voter rolls, federal election authorities revealed on Saturday.
Though not considered a problem at present, the situation "could represent a serious concern in the near future," says a new report issued by the Federal Election Institute (IFE).
The report, entitled "A Demographic Evaluation of the Voter Rolls," indicates that 1.47 percent of those listed on the official list of people eligible to vote in federal elections are actually dead.
That means approximately 1,054,443 of the 71.7 million names on the official voter rolls from 2006 should have been removed.
When a person´s death is reported to the official record keeping organization - the Registro Civil - the Federal Electoral Register (RFE) should be advised promptly.
But this is not happening in a timely fashion.
The report estimates that roughly 100,000 electors die each year but are not removed from the official list.
The states where this problem is greatest are Guerrero (3.42 percent), Durango (2.72 percent), Chihuahua (2.67 percent) and Nayarit (2.04 percent). Chihuahua and Durango will be staging state-wide elections on July 1.
The states where officials are most diligent in updating the voter rolls are Quintana Roo (0.70 percent) and San Luis Potosí (0.76 percent).
The report indicates that the number of dead who are not expunged from voter rolls in a timely fashion has increased each of the past three years.
"Although the totals are not of grave concern, the fact that the numbers are increasing indicates that actions must be taken to resolve the problem," the report states.
The report - prepared by investigators Manuel Ordorica and René Flores - also revealed that the problem is slightly more common in rural as compared to urban areas.
An estimated 1.7 percent of the names on voting rolls in rural areas correspond to someone who is deceased, while this number is at 1.4 percent in urban areas.
A complementary report shows that in the past 12 months, nearly 1.4 million new voters have been registered. |
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