During the night of August 5th at approximately 10 pm, while the votes were being counted that confirmed an Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) sweep of the state legislative elections, five people were taken off the streets of the Zocalo in Oaxaca City by police. Almost 80% of the Oaxacan population abstained from voting, which came as a disappointment for the APPO’s “punishment vote” campaign against the PRI. Police presence continues to be extremely heavy in the streets of Oaxaca City.

The legitimacy of the state democracy is questionable, and the low-turn out shows the collective disillusion in Oaxaca with the electoral process that has left the heavily contested PRI party, to which Ulises Ruiz belongs, in power for over 70 years. Read more | Update

see also: Abstentionism Wins by a Landslide Across Oaxaca