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274 Before long the battle among the parties on the electoral field for the selection of the constitutional powers must begin. With the representative system established and the decision regarding sovereignty delegated to the general powers and the states, no other action but the elections remains for the people to exercise their sovereignty for themselves. For this very reason they must watch the elections with the greatest interest, understanding that on their votes depend the organization of the government, success in the public administration, and the fate of the country. If, because of a lamentable abandonment, the majority of our fellow citizens had not almost always regarded the elections with indifference, abandoning them to turbulent factions that, as masters of the terrain, distorted the national will, it is evident that the country would have been saved many errors, many mistakes, and many crimes, that it would have lacked pretext for many rebellions, and that the governments deriving from the people would have found support among the same people. This abandonment, this indifference that we lament, are not inexplicable phenomena. In order for the election to be of interest and to attract the citizens, it is necessary that the citizen feels, perceives, that his vote has some influence on the fate of the country, that his will counts as much as that of each of his compatriots, and that if the majority of them participate, the men who deserve their confidence can be elevated to high offices. Explaining our thinking with more precision, we will say that the indifference with which the people regard electoral acts results from having adopted the system of indirect election, of the progressive delegation of the suffrage, which can never produce as an outcome the legitimate expression of public opinion. What faith, what interest, can the people have in naming electors 3 Elections Original title: “Elecciones.” Source: El Siglo XIX, Mexico, February 15, 1857. eleCtionS : 275 who have to name other new electors, who have still to go to select a new electoral body? What faith can the people have in all these operations , whose outcome they cannot even predict and that, as experience teaches, will be the most unexpected, if not the most contrary to their desires? To proclaim popular sovereignty, to recognize that all power derives from the people, and to appeal to indirect election, which distorts , corrupts, and denaturalizes the suffrage, is to fall into a monstrous inconsistency that immediately produces the evil of distracting citizens from public affairs, putting public affairs at the mercy of the audacity and intrigue of small factions and imprudent candidates. We are supporters of direct and universal suffrage because, when we accept a principle, we conform to all its consequences without vacillation and timidity; we cannot approve the indirect system that the new constitution establishes, nor much less the severe restriction that the circle of eligible ones has undergone thanks to the triumph of the mean spirit of provincialism over the democratic principle and over the sentiment of national unity and the fraternity of all Mexicans. We recognize nonetheless that, in the constitution, a step has been taken toward progress, reducing the stages of indirect election, and it seems to us that the division of the country into electoral districts will make the expression of the will of the people more genuine and will keep away official influences and the intrigues of factions. Having one single stage of election, the naming of high functionaries moves closer to the people, who can become more interested in the electoral struggle. If the people wish to conserve their liberty, if they wish to maintain order, if they wish to have morality and intelligence in public posts, they must take an active part in elections without letting themselves be led by any guide other than their conscience. The electoral struggle is appropriate so that all parties that accept the legal order carefully measure and organize their strengths, which should consist of the moral influence they exercise on public opinion. We would look with pleasure at our adversaries being disposed to enter into the electoral dispute with no weapons other than their program and their principles and openly proclaiming their candidacies. Leaving elections to chance is one of the most unfortunate errors of people. To think only about the electors is to be left in the middle of the road. Above all, opinion must seek which citizens are worthy of [18.218.127.141] Project MUSE (2024-04-20 00:48 GMT...

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