Elections in a Small Mexican Municipality

Every four years around the beginning of October in the small town of Churintzio, located in the northeast portion of the Western Central Mexican state of Michoacan, the landscape (conservatively or moderately or radically) changes but it has nothing to do with the onset of autumn. Throughout the town, suddenly yet predictably appear advertisements in either the predominant colors of red, yellow, or blue on massive walls painted for the occasion, on small, medium, and huge posters and banners hung on houses and small retail establishments, or on posters affixed to the windows or doors of motor vehicles. These ads invariably will in bold lettering contain such slogans as “Por Churintzio Vamos Todos”/ For Churintzio Let’s All Go, “Gobernar Con Equidad“/Govern With Equality, “Michoacan Merece Respeto”/Michoacan Deserves Respect, and “Honestidad Y Valiente”/Honesty and Honor. Prominently featured on these ads will be either a picture of a coatless man with the top button of his white shirt unbuttoned or a picture of a woman wearing an unostentatious business suit with the top button unbuttoned. You see, come Sunday, November 13, an election will be held for such political offices as the governor of the state of Michoacan and for el presidente/mayor of the municipality of Churintzio.

Before discussing local politics in Churintzio, here is a brief primer on Mexican politics and Mexico's electoral processes. Mexico has a multi-party system, meaning that there are more than two dominant parties. All political parties must be registered with IFE, the Federal Electoral Institute and must obtain a minimum of 2% of the vote in federal elections to maintain their registered status. Currently there are seven registered parties and three are dominant/major. The major parties are the centrist PRI/Institutional Revolutionary Party, originally with a socialist orientation, which founded in 1929 had a near monopolistic grip on all levels of Mexican politics for 71 years, the right of center PAN/National Action Party, founded in 1939, and the left of center PRD/Party of the Democratic Revolution, founded in 1989. The “minor” parties are the Green Ecological Party, founded in 1986 which has an ecological platform, the left wing PT/LaborParty, founded in 1990 which often aligns itself with the PRD, the social democratic Convergence, founded in 1997 which sometimes aligns itself with the PRD, and New Alliance, founded in 2005 by academics of the Autonomous Technical Institute of Mexico and by members of the National Teachers Union.

Although not enforced, suffrage is “compulsory” for all Mexican citizens 18 years old and above. It is also universal, free, secret, and direct. The national identity card serves as one’s voting card, hence one is automatically registered for all elections.

The major national elections and selection processes include the following. Held on the first Sunday of July, the presidential elections are conducted every six years and the president is limited to a single term. The federal senatorial election is held concurrently with the presidential election; of the 128 senators, 64 are directly elected while through multiple processes another 64 are “assigned”- senators are prohibited from immediately succeeding themselves and all are replaced every six years. The lower House of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies consists of 500 deputies, 300 that are directly elected and 200 who are “assigned” through complex “rules of proportional representation”- the election is held every three years, during the presidential election and the mid-term of the presidency, and the deputies are completely replaced after their three year terms are completed and they are also not permitted to immediately succeed themselves.

Each of the 31 states of Mexico and the Federal District/Mexico City (although technically in the FD the elected official is not referred to as being the governor) has a governor. The governor may not serve more than a single term. For the vast majority of the Mexican states that term is for six years while a few of the states have either four or five year terms of office. Michoacan is one of the states that currently (although in the past it had been six years) has a four year term of office.

From what I have been able to observe in the almost five years that I have been living there, as a U.S. expatriate resident of Churintzio, is that local politics in this semi-rural, economically depressed, parochial, and provincial municipality far and away takes precedence over national or even state politics. Consequently, it is the presidente/mayoral election that will garner the most interest as el presidente with the technical guidance of his running mate (the “sindico municipal” who is responsible for the oversight of fiscal and legal matters) controls the municipality’s purse strings, appointing the municipal workers and determining what (and in which community) public works projects will be conducted. Churintzio is one of the 113 municipios/municipalities (think of it sort of like a mini county) in the state of Michoacan. In addition to the town of Churintzio, the municipality consists of 13 other communities; the entire municipality has a population of around 8000 with Churintzio decidedly the largest at about 3500- in reality, though, the actual population is about half that as many of the “residents” are presently residing in the U.S., either permanently or temporarily.

As the municipal seat, Churintzio has permanent offices for the three major parties, the exteriors all highlighted in the colors that they are associated with- red for PRI, blue for PAN, and yellow for PRD. Prospective mayoral candidates must apply at the office of their party to register their intent to run for office. A couple or so months prior to the November 13th election, a junta/meeting is held at each of the offices and by a show of hands by the party faithful in attendance, a single el presidente candidate is nominated.

From early October and leading up to election day, fiestas, er, I mean political rallies organized by the respective parties will be held throughout town, the largest of which at the town’s zocalo/plaza. There, typically, large crowds will gather to hear (but not necessarily listen to) speeches by the candidates, and to be entertained by bands, singers, dancers, or even comedians. Inevitably, there will be a display of fireworks. However, from what I can detect, except for the party faithful be they PRI, PAN, or PRD, most of those in attendance are either apathetic or cynical about the political process and are there primarily for the party (as in fiesta/picnic) and for the giveaways like sodas and tortas/sandwiches, plus frequently a bag of staples consisting of such items as rice, beans, lentils, and maseca/corn meal.

Organized and supervised by the IEM/Instituto Electoral de Michoacan, the election will be conducted at one or more of Churintzio's schools as well as voting sites in the other communities that make up the municipality. Behind drawn curtains, paper ballots will be filled-out. Both the govenor-elect and the president of the municipality will take office the first week in February of the following year.

Based on past history, one thing is absolutamente certain! Whoever is elected as el presidente will be, rightfully or wrongfully, accused of favoring whatever town/village he comes from both in terms of political patronage and the allocation of funds for public works projects (for example my wife's friend who is an organizer for PRI and a resident of Churintzio is absolutely convinced that the current PRD mayor, a dentist, has favored the village that he lives in by even "refurbishing all of the corrals in his village" at the expense of much needed projects in Churintzio).

As for me, as a resident of Mexico on a FM-2 visa, by federal law I am not allowed to be involved in any aspect of the country's political proceesses. Consequently, all that I can hope for is that the next mayor whatever party and/or community that he represents does not reverse the enlightened policy instituted by the current presidente of having the town's intracity buses enter and leave town from the same direction as the extremely narrow main street in town, Independencia, was originally designed for burros and horses and not for buses that in the past had to adroitly, carefully, and well beyond slowly dodge one another making their way in opposite directions to and from their destinations. For Churintzio, that was true unbiased political progress! At any rate, as a foreigner, I was not eligible for the most coveted bribe, er, I mean giveaway this year, which was a special calling card that is good for four years only if the candidate for governor of a certain party is elected and if one quid pro quo-like promised to vote in tandem for that party's candidates for both el presidente for Churintzio and for its candidate for governor. Who says that politics in Churintzio has not entered the 20th, er, I mean the 21st century!