Dissatisfaction with Mexico Political Parties and Their Candidates on Rise Horacio Jimenez - El Universal
go to original June 22, 2015

A total of 1,900,960 citizens annulled their vote on June 7 midterm elections. (El Universal)

Even though annulled votes reached 4.76% of the total on June 7, the promoters of the campaign on social networks said that the 1.9 million citizens that annulled their vote were not enough, because the minimum percentage to consider this option "successful" was 7%.

They said that since the number of annulled votes was not higher than in 2009, citizens did not send a "strong" message to the system about their dissatisfaction with political parties and their candidates.

...In an interview with El Universal, Denise Dresser, political scientist and one of the main promoters of annulling votes, said that the nearly two million citizens that annulled their vote represent the weariness and rejection of society towards political parties and the few options available.

"Annulled votes were a wake up call, and I am glad 1.8 million people joined this campaign. However, those who opted for alternation should ask themselves what will happen in Sonora when a candidate that uses airplanes owned by entrepreneurs and ask them for favors comes to power, or in Guerrero, where citizens voted for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in alliance with the Green Party (PVEM)," said Dresser, who uploaded a video to YouTube to promote this campaign.

She added that annulling votes has been the fight of David against Goliath, because the idea goes against the party machine, against intellectuals who think that Mexico's democratic system is like the Swedish. However, if it was so "there wouldn't be such levels of abstention and annulled votes and we would have parties that are accountable and provide information to voters," she explained.

Read the rest at El Universal

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