But the group is in a race against time because the election is so soon. But like all crimes it must be proved. But in this program you are not supposed to mix politics with assistance. Civic Alliance, Gomez said, began receiving similar complaints about pressure tactics and the abuse of federal programs about three weeks ago. Handing out gifts of food, T-shirts, building supplies and even medicines is standard fare during political campaigns in Mexico and is not necessarily illegal.
Public employees are free to support the candidates of their choice.
The PRI is passing out forms to public employees and asking them to circulate them, hoping to use this network to attract at least 12 million pledges for votes for Labastida, according to published reports. Some bureaucrats have been discovered using their jobs or offices to circulate the forms among recipients of programs they administer. Others have been caught strategizing at work. Last Tuesday bureaucrats at Mexico's national family-welfare institute gathered in an auditorium during work hours to discuss supporting the Labastida campaign. The countryside, where 30 percent of voters live, is a traditional stronghold for the ruling party Civic Alliance has already documented one case, Gomez said, where a Progresa worker in Chiapas circulated forms and unlawfully obtained signatures or fingerprints of a number of welfare recipients, along with the numbers of their voter credentials.