Chamber:
	Cámara de Senadores
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	21 August 1994
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for 96 Senate seats on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office
Background and outcome of elections:
	The 1994 congressional elections were held simultaneously with polling for President of the Republic. The three leading candidates for the latter post were Mr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Mr. Diego Fernandez de Cevallos of the National Action Party (PAN) and Mr. Cuauhtemoc Cardenas Solorzano of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). In the campaign – during which the PRI generally outspent and used the media more than its rivals – overriding issue concerned clean elections, free of fraud. Corruption, crime and unemployment were also focused upon. In the economic sector, Mr. Zedillo, a former Budget Minister who replaced Mr. Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta as the official PRI candidate after the latter was assassinated in March 1994, pointed to the achievements of outgoing President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who had succeeded in controlling Mexico’s debt crisis and inflation rate, increased privatisation and signed the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). PAN countered by claiming that the Government’s policies were insufficient to help the poor. In preparation for the polling, a wholesale compilation of new voters’ rolls and issuing of new identification cards took place. Election day was marked by a high turnout; it was monitored by thousands of both independent Mexican and foreign observers, who declared the process generally free and fair, especially in comparison with the previous (1988) presidential race. Final results, announced by the Federal Electoral Institute on 28 August, gave a clear presidential victory to Mr. Zedillo. The centre-right PRI also maintained its firm majorities in both the expanded Senate and the Chamber of Deputies despite electoral reforms that aimed to bolster the representation of opposition parties. In both cases, the conservative PAN topped the centre-left PRD for second place. Analysts interpreted this outcome as reflecting the electorate’s concern for stability and fear of change (away from the PRI), which won out over its desire for change. President Zedillo took office on 1 December. The new Cabinet, which included a PAN member, had been named the previous day.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (21 August 1994): Elections results
Number of registered electors	45,729,057
Voters	35,336,444 (77.27%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	1,054,405
Valid votes	34,281,039

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)	17,210,210	48.72
National Action Party (PAN)	8,846,651	25.04
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)	5,769,617	16.33
Labour Party (PT)	974,356	2.76

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Seats 1994
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)	95	64
National Action Party (PAN)	8	8
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)	24	25
Labour Party (PT)	0	0

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	112
Women:	16