National elections for local offices put more leftist and independent candidates in office. This actually hurts the rebels, who have long maintained that leftists could only achieve power through violence. But the voters also turned down a referendum meant to help fight corruption and government waste. The vote failed not because a majority did not vote yes, but because there were a few thousand too few voters to achieve the 25 percent of eligible voters participating. Leftist rebels terrorized voters into staying away from the polls in many parts of the country.