NGO CITES ELECTION "IRREGULARITIES," SUPPORTS

UNCLAS MEXICO 003999 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL MX SUBJECT: NGO CITES ELECTION "IRREGULARITIES," SUPPORTS RECOUNT REF: MEXICO 3907 ¶1. (U) Summary: On July 14, poloffs met with Silvia Alonso, Executive Secretary of the influential NGO Alianza Civica (Civic Alliance),to discuss the findings of her organization's election observation mission. She called on the electoral tribunal (TEPJF) to give greater credibility to the election results by ordering a recount of ballots from contested polling stations. While Alonso acknowledged that she had not found any concrete proof of widespread or systematic fraud, she said Alianza Civica's (AC) observers had witnessed a number of irregularities, including possible voter coercion and inconsistent vote tally sheets, as well as anomalies in the Federal Electoral Institute's preliminary count (PREP),which she believes undermine public confidence in the fairness of the electoral process. She emphasized that AC was not condemning the IFE's handling of the election, but rather was seeking a recount to promote greater public confidence in the results and the legitimacy of the newly-elected government. End summary. ¶2. (U) On July 14, poloffs met with Silvia Alonso, the Executive Secretary of AC, an organization devoted to fostering greater transparency and citizen participation in the Mexican political process, to discuss the organization's recent report on its election observation mission. In coordination with 28 different organizations, AC fielded over 2000 Mexican national observers along with 46 foreign observers in 26 states. Because of its wide reach, AC is considered one of Mexico's most credible election-related NGOs and its call for a recount was widely published in major newspapers across Mexico. ¶3. (U) Alonso praised IFE's efficiency and organizational skills, particularly its ability to open all but 11 of over 130,000 polling booths planned nationwide. She said that while her AC's observers had not uncovered any evidence of widespread or systematic fraud, they had detected enough irregularities in individual precincts to warrant a recount, at least in those precincts. One such problem related to the PREP count of the votes, which showed more votes having been cast for senate candidates than for the presidency in certain precincts. Given the closeness of the presidential race, she asserted that such anomalies aroused suspicion as to the PREP's integrity. Although the PREP itself was an unofficial �0A;count, she argued that its anomalies eroded public confidence that IFE's final results were legitimate. ¶4. (U) Alonso also discussed some of the problems AC observed in polling stations on Election Day. She noted that 4% of the polling stations AC visited did not have ink to mark votersQ, thumbs after they voted, and in 15% of the precincts, the ink apparently was of the incorrect type and was easily washed off. According to AC observers, this occurred mostly in the states of Coahuila, Oaxaca, and Yucat n. In 2% of the observed polling stations, particularly in Morelos, Coahuila, and Guerrero, AC observers reported cases of citizens arriving to vote who already had apparent ink stains on their thumbs; she was unable to confirm whether election workers had turned such voters away. (Note: These irregularities did not consistently occur in states favoring one particular political party; while Coahuila and Yucatan favored the PAN, Morelos, Guerrero and Oaxaca favored the PRD. End note.) ¶5. (U) Alonso also mentioned that AC's observers detected possible violations of the right to a free and secret vote in 11% of the voting booths they visited. In most such cases, AC observers saw unauthorized people lingering around the polling stations, apparently holding lists of votersQ, names, presumably to keep track of who voted. In a few cases, voters were observed revealing their votes to poll officials, and in some polling booths there was no curtain to assure voters' privacy. In 14% of the polling stations AC observed, a less coercive but nonetheless illegal form of pressure came in the form of "mareas" or groups of people dressed in party colors, presumably to sway voters to vote for a particular political party. (Note: Embassy observers in a traditional PRI stronghold in Oaxaca witnessed several men dressed in "PRI red" lingering around the voting place; nevertheless, in that particular voting station, the voting booths had curtains, guaranteeing the secrecy of the vote, and the men were not seen communicating with the voters. End note.) In 9% of the polls observed, AC representatives witnessed voters being transported to the polls in large numbers ("voter round-ups"),a possible violation of electoral law. ¶6. (U) As for the July 5-6 vote retabulation, AC had representatives in 61 of IFE's 300 district councils, representing 14 different states. Alonso described to us three types of problems that AC detected at the district retabulations. First was the failure of many of the district presidents to call out the results publicly, as is standard procedure, so that everyone present could hear. She conceded, however, that party representatives had access to paper copies of the PREP results and the Election Day tally sheets, so any inconsistency could be detected and challenged if necessary. Second, in some districts the PREP result did not correspond with the final results in the possession of party representatives. In many such cases, party representatives requested recounts; these recounts were often, but not universally, granted. Finally, the AC identified a precinct in Nuevo Leon in which the number of ballots cast was greater than the number of voters registered. ¶7. (U) Although Alonso was complimentary of IFE's technical abilities, she said its General Council had demonstrated a lack of political aptitude or sensitivity. She said IFEQ,s credibility may have been damaged not only by the problems with the PREP and official counts, but also by its failure to intervene to address possible electoral law violations during the campaign. For instance, IFE had to be ordered by the TEPJF to order the PAN to remove a Calderon television ad declaring L"pez Obrador "a danger to Mexico," something she asserted it should have done on its own initiative, given its mandate to control slanderous political advertising. Alonso also pointed out the lack of IFE intervention when President Vicente Fox openly and repeatedly called for political continuity during the campaign, implicitly (and impermissibly) favoring Calder"n. Given these pre-election controversies, the Election Day irregularities, and the narrowness of the margin, Alonso told poloffs she believed IFE General Council President Luis Carlos Ugalde had been too forthcoming in his remarks on July 6, when he announced that, according to IFE's final returns, Calderon had received the most votes. (Note: In a July 12 meeting, IFE Counselor Alejandra Latapi (reftel) told poloffs that IFE President Ugalde had made a point of never officially declaring Calderon the "winner;" she said that in his July 6 remarks, Ugalde had simply announced that according to IFE's final returns, Calderon had received the most votes, and that "the golden rule of democracy establishes that the candidate with the most votes wins." End note.) ¶8. (SBU) Comment: Alonso emphasized that although AC found no proof of widespread or systematic fraud, there were numerous irregularities, and she could not rule out the possibility that some represented isolated cases of fraud. She admitted that in many cases, human error, especially among less educated election workers, could be the main culprit behind the irregularities. While IFE did its best to train election officials at the polling booths, under IFE procedures, these "officials" were all chosen at random from the general population, and the only educational prerequisite was that the workers be literate. Many had no previous experience in working on elections. Under these circumstances, numerous mathematical and procedural errors were inevitable. Alonso stressed that she had confidence in the integrity of the TEPJF and believed that a partial or complete recount, at the discretion of the TEPJF, would help restore public confidence in the election results. Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity GARZA