El Universal has had some excellent columns as of late, and one of them is Denise Maerker's colum on "New forms of electoral fraud." I remember reading just one story on this subject from Mexico State, and Maerker puts a welcome spotlight on it again: PRI - because all the examples involve the party - is trying out a new method of influencing elections that has so far slipped under the radar screen of electoral authorities.
Simply put: In very competitive elections, with months of anticipation, local communities all of a sudden see a rush of new people moving to the area. They then try to gain residency, get a local voter card, and maintain it just long enough to vote and influence the election result.
The beast has a name: "Electoral tourism." It is far to early to say how widespread it is, and clearly it is a complicated operation that is not pulled off easily. Yet it seems fair to posit, as does Maerker, that this the new electoral fraud.
Almost makes you miss the good ole' vote tacos.
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