A survey has revealed that one-third of Mexican voters have been approached by political parties to buy their vote in Sunday’s general election, and 17.3% declined.

Conducted by three non-governmental organizations, the poll found that parties offered money, goods or services in exchange for the vote of 33.5% of those polled.

Only 17.3% of those approached refused the offer. Those who agreed to sell their vote stated that the transaction was not binding, so no actual conditions had been placed on them.

Alberto Serdán of Citizen Action Against Poverty, one of the NGOs behind the poll, found some hope in the numbers.

He said it was a source of hope that the 79% who received something for their vote felt they were not obligated to vote for someone in particular.

“A lot of people received offers, but very few people feel threatened about supporting a particular party. For this reason, we make an open call for a massive turnout during the July 1 elections as a means to counter the effects of the buying [of votes].”

The poll also broke down vote-buying by political party: 21.5% responded that “all the parties” had made offers, while 5.9% identified the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and its coalition allies as the buyer.

Another 5.5% said the left-right For Mexico In Front coalition had tried to buy their vote and 0.7% identified the other coalition, Together We’ll Make History, as the buyer.

The poll was conducted between June 6 and 26 in at least one electoral area of each of the 32 states.

Source: Milenio (sp)