General election in Mexico 2015

The 2015 general election in Mexico took place across the country on June 7, 2015. A total of 83 million Mexicans eligible to vote were called to vote for the lower house as well as nine governors and around 900 mayors. President Enrique Peña Nieto's ruling PRI party was able to defend its majority and gained around 29 percent of the vote. The conservative PAN party received about 21 percent of the vote. In the southern states there were protests against the government and elections. In many places there was no election there.

Election campaign

For President Peña Nieto, who promised to restore security in the country when he was elected in 2012, the election was the first important test of sentiment.

The election campaign in the southern states was marked by violence. Several candidates were murdered.

Boycott of election and violence

Violent clashes broke out in several southern states during the election. Angry teachers and students attacked polling stations in the states of Guerrero , Oaxaca and Chiapas .

Polling stations were boycotted in the state of Oaxaca, where the CNTE teachers' union is very active. Demonstrators set ballots and urns on fire in around 20 polling stations. The police took 79 rioters into custody. Thousands of people demonstrated against the PRI in the regional capital of Oaxaca de Juárez .

The day before the election, at least ten people were killed in Guerrero state when rival civil militia exchanged guns in the village of Xolapa . Teachers violently protested against Peña Nieto's educational reform for days.

The Organization of American States (OAS) observer mission spoke only of isolated incidents. The Mexican Interior Ministry relocated thousands of soldiers and police officers to the conflict regions in the country to secure the election.

Result

The Partido Verde Ecologista de México (PVEM), allied with the PRI, increased their results to 2012 and achieved around seven percent or 47 seats. The PRI's second partner, Nueva Alianza , won eleven seats.

Although the PRI lost some of its 207 seats up until then, it can, thanks to 203 seats with its allies, hold the majority of the 500 seats in the lower house. The left-wing PRD party deteriorated significantly: after 18.4 percent in the 2012 election, it was only able to achieve around eleven percent of the votes (56 seats).

Political party		Sit relative majority	Seats proportional representation	Total	+/-
	Partido Revolucionario Institucional	155	48	203	−9
	Partido Acción Nacional	56	53	109	−5
	Partido de la Revolución Democrática	28	28	56	−48
	Partido del Trabajo	6th	0	6th	−9
	Partido Verde Ecologista de México	29	18th	47	+18
	Movimiento Ciudadano	10	15th	25th	+9
	Nueva Alianza	1	10	11	+1
	Movimiento Regeneración Nacional	14th	21st	35	+35
	Partido Encuentro Social	0	8th	8th	+8
	Independent	1	0	1	+1
Total		300	200	500

Individual evidence

1. ↑ derstandard.at, accessed on June 8, 2015
2. ↑ http://www.dw.de/regierungspartei-gewinnt-parlamentswahl-in-mexiko/a-18501796