Complaints continue on the first day to elect Morena congressmen

Georgina Saldierna

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday July 31, 2022, p. 4

Between complaints of carrying and buying and coercion of the vote, as well as some incidents of violence, the first day of the electoral process took place yesterday to define the 3,000 congressmen from Morena who will have the task of renewing the internal government bodies both at the national level as state.

Of the politicians who have expressed their interest in being presidential candidates for the party in 2024, the head of the capital’s government, Claudia Sheinbaum, and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, publicized the moment in which they cast their vote, while the Secretary of the Interior, Adán Augusto López, did not make any public announcement about it.

The leader Mario Delgado indicated that where evidence of irregularities is found, the election of the corresponding district will be annulled. We cannot allow the old practices of other parties to enter our movementhe underlined shortly before casting his vote in the Magdalena Mixhuca Hall of Arms.

In said voting center, dozens of minibuses were observed carrying people to vote. In this regard, the former senator specified that carrying is when a group of people conditioned to vote for someone in particular is brought. When you let yourself vote freely, that’s not carry.

Yesterday there were elections in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Mexico City, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Colima and Michoacán.

The day was characterized by a massive turnout that led to long lines, hours of waiting and near-misses due to the intention of some to vote without forming. A massive affiliation was also registered. The morenista leader estimated that the participation will be of more than a million people in the two days that the internal process will last.

Among the most serious incidents, Delgado reported that in Tehuacán, Puebla, a group of 20 people tried to prevent the election and tore up electoral stationery, but 90 percent of it was protected and voting was restored.

In Minatitlán, Veracruz, police and municipal officials removed local deputy Jessica Ramírez from the booths, between shoving and pulling, who accused the organizers of not allowing everyone to enter. She learned that the legislator forced her way into the tents and removed metal fences.

It was accused that since dawn, Mayor Carmen Medel’s team practically kidnapping the election by preventing the access of the scrutineers accredited by the party leadership, as well as of the militants who do not sympathize with it. Due to the acts of violence and various irregularities, such as the withdrawal of ballots, the carrying of people and the purchase and coercion of votes, especially from older adults, the annulment of the elections is expected.

In total, 42 thousand 583 people were registered as candidates to be congressmen, but only 3 thousand of them will be able to obtain that position, since for each one of the 300 electoral districts in the country there will be 10 congressmen; five will be men and five women.

Among those registered is the director of the Issste, Pedro Zenteno Santaella, who competes in the 37th district of the state of Mexico.

Delgado explained that 2 percent of those interested in the position were eliminated; in most cases it was because they had been champions of other parties in the last elections.

With regard to the demands for a level playing field by various candidates for the Presidency of the Republic, he indicated that there has always been a level playing field and that the leadership cannot go anywhere, because that would detract from the legitimacy of the process that the candidate must emerge.