Ballot

Emmy, the principled schoolteacher turned election inspector, is forced to flee after a fake commissioner tries to buy the ballot box and a shoot‑out kills her companion, Professor Wak. Handcuffed to the sealed ballot, she spends a night hidden in the forest while her son Enzo is arrested and threatened by the police, who also try to frame him. When a gang of thugs, led by a man who claims a reward for finding her, tracks her down, Emmy manages to turn the tables, stabbing the leader and escaping the ambush.

Desperate for protection, Emmy turns to the opposition candidate Edraline, only to discover that he, too, is willing to bribe her and that his men have been hunting her all along. With the help of Morales—one of her former students who saves Enzo from a corrupt officer—and the town’s union leader, Emmy rallies teachers, workers, farmers and the queer community. A crowd gathers outside Edraline’s house, demanding her release; under the pressure of so many witnesses, Edraline cannot simply eliminate her. He is eventually taken into custody, and Emmy is reunited with Enzo. Together they agree to testify, ensuring that Edraline will face charges for murder and election fraud.

The film closes with the newly re‑elected Mayor Hidalgo—still a land‑grabber and corrupt—insisting that the ballot box was untouched, while Emmy boldly rejects both Hidalgo and Edraline as fit leaders. She extracts a promise that the workers’ wage demands will be honored. In the next election cycle, a hopeful newcomer, Babista, runs for council with support from the queer community and ordinary citizens, but the manual ballot system malfunctions again, hinting that the old machinery of corruption is still alive. The ending leaves us with a glimmer of resistance—people like Emmy and Babista are organizing for change—yet it also acknowledges that dismantling a deeply corrupted system will be a long, arduous struggle.

Last Updated: September 15, 2025 at 18:24