My spouse just read in El Universal that trucks full of goods being distributed to the poor (to buy votes) were found/observed in Mexico City. The trucks belonged to both the PRI and PRD. Another report by phone from a friend in Mexico stated that voters were being offered money to vote for a particular candidate. In order to collect, the voter has to take a cell phone photo of their completed ballot and provide it to a party representative.

Nothing about such tactics that I haven't heard for the past forty years.  We were living in a small Mexican town during the last local elections and the fact that some parties would go to just about any length to secure a victory was more than evident. That all political parties would participate in fraudulent tactics stands to reason. Political power is money. Almost anything goes because there is no effective enforcement of election rules and law.

Consider the nasty tactics that both parties employ in the US, localize them for Mexico and bring them out into the open. That's politics in Mexico. Politics stinks period.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

Honestly what I was trying to imply is that clientelism isn't enough.  I'm saying that I question whether the PRI won't need to alter election results through actually stealing ballot boxes, as various parties did in 1988 and 2006 to pull off a win.  That's a lot harder sell than simple clientelism. At the very least, I'm thinking that that kind of fixing the election would prompt protests like in 2006, if not larger.

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg