| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | June 2009 
Hard Vote to Define July Election
 Mauricio Gonzalez - RUMBO de México
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Eight political parties participating in the July 5 midterm election are poised to rely on what they call the hard vote as a response to a current national movement calling for void votes.
Hard votes are guaranteed ballots the parties have traditionally received from their hard core following. This type of voting has defined elections over the past decade and it is bound, experts claim, to define the current highly-splintered and contested election.
Political science professor Jaime Narez, director of the Acatlán School of Higher Studies says that the three leading contending parties "are not concerned with voter absenteeism as they are relying on their hard vote, which is what finally determines the outcome of the election process."
Electoral behavior researcher Irina Alberro of Colegio de México calls it "surprising" that political parties are not interested in absentee balloting and rely on their hard vote.
"Historically, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has had its hard vote, but it is declining," though it still has control over rural areas where access to media is negligible, hence, "they are not familiar with the void vote option."
Regarding the Party of the Democratic Revolution(PRD), Alberro said that at best it can count on 10 percent of the hard vote and followers are aware of the blank or void vote.
In the case of the National Action Party (PAN) over the past decade it has shown a more stable group of hard voters, so, said Alberro, the void vote is not a possibility and there is no ideological choice but to vote for the PAN candidates again. |
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