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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 1 



probably derives from the fact that so many people 

 cannot read, but propaganda has acquainted them 

 with the symbols and colors of the various parties. 

 It is possible that the use of the ballot number 

 might provide interested parties with the means 

 for determining how individuals have voted. 



During the voting there have been present 

 a president of the voting place, two secretaries, 

 and two inspectors, who were selected by lot from 

 slates presented by each party to the electoral 

 council. After the polls close, all unused bal- 

 lots are destroyed, the votes are tabulated, a 

 record of the proceedings is drawn up and signed 

 by the voting officials, and all the ballots and 

 accompanying papers are made into a well 

 wrapped and sealed package which is signed by 

 the officials. Representatives of the contesting 

 parties are present. The Wednesday after election 

 day, the presidents of the various voting places 

 meet to verify the returns from the individual polls 

 and to certify the candidates who gained a major- 

 ity. Before the end of 10 days this verification 

 board must complete its work (ties are decided by 

 lot), make up all the ballots and papers into a 

 sealed package, and deliver it to the electoral 

 college. In the case of municipal elections, the 

 ayuntamiento constitutes the electoral college. 

 The day after receiving the expediente the ayun- 

 tamiento passes on the vote and declares the win- 

 ners. Ordinarily, elections for municipes are held 

 on the first Sunday in December, and the success- 

 ful candidates take office the following 1st of 

 January. 



POLITICAL PARTIES 



The electoral councd which sets up the election 

 machinery in each municipio is made up of one 

 representative from each registered political party, 

 appointed by the party for a term of 2 years. 

 This councU is organized with a president, a secre- 

 tary, and one or more ordinary members. There 

 must be at least thi-ee members, and any lacks 

 are made up by appointments made by the presi- 

 dent and the syndic of the ayvntamiento. During 

 1944 and 1945 the president was Manuel Fuentes 

 Ramirez, and the secretary was Salvador Fuentes 

 V. For a number of years untd recently (since 

 we left Quiroga) there was only one registered 

 party in Quiroga — the Government or Revolu- 



tionary party (formerly PNR and PRM, now 

 PRI). A registered party must represent a 

 notarized assembly of at least 100 citizens; must 

 have a directive board; may not have a religious 

 name or represent any specific race; and must 

 register its candidates with the electoral council 

 at least 20 days prior to each election. In Quiroga 

 there is a municipal committee of the Revolu- 

 tionary party, the members of which are selected 

 by a majority of the local members of the party. 

 In the days when there was no other legal and 

 registered party in Quiroga, competition was 

 afforded by the tlu-ee great sectors into which the 

 national party is divided: Sector Agrario (Cam- 

 pesino) or rural workers. Sector Obrero or urban 

 workers, and Sector Popular which includes the 

 merchants, proprietors, industrialists, clerks, and 

 the like. Actually the division tended to be dual, 

 in which the town opposed the country, the landed 

 were against the landless and the ejidatarios, the 

 "whites" vied with the "Indians," the lower part 

 of town or "El Centre" contended with the upper 

 town or "El Calvario," and the sinarquista 

 Roman Catholics were against the agrarian agnos- 

 tics and atheists. From the beginning of modern 

 constitutional government in 1917 until 1934 the 

 Sector Popular (or its equivalent before the Sector 

 Popular was formally incorporated into the 

 Revolutionary party) controlled the ayuntamiento. 

 Growing in part out of the resentments and dis- 

 orders occasioned by the activation of the agrarian 

 ejidal program 1929/32-, the political turmoil 

 became so aggravated that the State government 

 was forced to impose the municipal government 

 1934 to 1938. From 1938 through 1945 the Sector 

 Campesmo or Agrario was dominant, although 

 members of the Popular and Obrero sectors were 

 represented on the ayuntamiento. In 1946 the 

 Sector Popular came into control again. By this 

 time a second registered party had entered the 

 scene — the conservative and religious (that is, 

 proclerical) Partido de Acci6n Nacional, commonly 

 known as PAN. This party drew support from 

 the more devout Catholics, within all three sectors 

 of the PRI, who were not in sympathy with the 

 anticlerical attitude of that party. Also, the 

 strong group of Sinarquistas (not yet organized as 

 a registered political party) threw their support to 

 the PAN slate of candidates presented for the 



