Michoacan Election

Writing about the governor of Michoacan, Mexico, who was forced to resign because opponents say he was fraudulently elected, staff writer Marjorie Miller stated: “But reporters and independent observers saw little of the outright fraud that has characterized other state votes” (Oct. 7). That statement is an incredible whitewash.

We were independent witnesses to the July elections in Michoacan, as part of a 14-person international delegation, and two of us spent a month there doing legal research on the elections. Our group has documented the fraud that pervaded the elections. So have the three large Mexican civic organizations that observed the elections. Examples: shaving up to 240,000 names off the voter list, registering some 150,000 dead or nonexistent people, “losing” 104,000 voter credentials, military intimidation, and refusal to count votes in public. The cheating made a difference. The “official” count showed the government’s candidate victorious by just 229,276 votes. Faced with street protests, the government has replaced its governor with a former public security minister, nicknamed “Iron-fist” and infamous for suppressing democratic street protests.

ROBERT W. BENSON

Professor, Loyola Law School

CYNTHIA ANDERSON-BARKER

CRAIG CARDON

Loyola Law School students