The mystery of independent candidacies

Why believe that the change our country needs will come from political parties? Independent candidacies sound like an interesting instrument for our democracy.

Mexico is at a turning point with the upcoming presidential elections where more than just positions of power are at stake; the destiny of the country is on the line. In an era where technology is advancing rapidly, transforming every industry in its wake, we see groups seeking to change the country and others seeking to maintain their personal interests.

If Uber does not come from the transportation industry, Airbnb does not come from the hotel industry, WhatsApp does not come from the telecommunications industry, YouTube does not come from the media, and Wikipedia does not come from the encyclopedia industry, why believe that the change our country truly needs will come from political parties? This is where independent candidacies sound like a very interesting instrument for our democracy, as they have been the subject of much discussion in the last week due to alleged signature simulation. However, the situation is very strange for three reasons:

1. The National Electoral Institute (INE) was designed as a mechanism to maintain democracy, and its greatest strength lies in involving citizens and different parties in the electoral process to promote trust in the electoral process. However, in the case of independent candidacies, the signature review process from the beginning with the application has been conducted behind closed doors, without transparency of information or a way to support the candidates. Additionally, during the signature collection process, the INE would show a list every week of how many signatures each candidate had validated. The strange thing is that the percentage of validation that the candidates had in the first review compared to the second review shows a huge difference, with the most serious case being that of the candidate Armando Ríos Piter, who had 89% of validated signatures in the first stage and more than 90% of simulated signatures in the second review, a very mysterious difference margin.

2. The leakage of electoral information about independent candidates, where on several occasions the media have been the first to break the news, either by deliberately leaked information or unintentionally from electoral authorities, has shown a lot of instability in the process.

3. It is evident that the current government is afraid that Ricardo Anaya will become president, fearing being prosecuted for corruption, intentions declared by the candidate of the Front for Mexico. However, excluding Jaime Rodríguez "El Bronco" and Armando Ríos Piter "El Jaguar", it is the ideal scenario for Margarita Zavala to be a counterbalance to Ricardo Anaya's candidacy, which could indicate a possible alliance between former President Felipe Calderón and Los Pinos.

As a country, it has taken us many decades to have a democratic process in Mexico, and in these upcoming elections, which will be the most expensive in our history, it is very important for citizens to demand transparency and trust in institutions, rather than clientelism and vote-buying. By 2024, it is expected that at least 95% of the Mexican population will have internet access, so it is vital as a country that we start preparing for these to be the last elections on paper and migrate to virtual voting using decentralized technology such as Blockchain, which could eliminate vote-buying and electoral corruption, one of the biggest triggers of national corruption.