SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS
                  CASAS, Mexico (CNN) -- Voters in this troubled southern state were
                  going to the polls Sunday amid allegations of vote-rigging and a
                  possible boycott by many indigenous voters.

                  More than 1.9 million registered voters were called to cast their ballots
                  for new authorities in 111 counties and 40 state legislature seats from 24
                  districts.

                  The election was being monitored by hundreds of Mexican election
                  observers and a group of Canadian legislators.

                  But with Mexican army troops on the streets, armed rebels of the Zapatista
                  National Liberation Army in the nearby jungle and ordinary citizens caught in
                  between, most of the state's 4 million residents remained skeptical that
                  anything good would come of the vote.

                  Chiapas is rich in natural resources such as petroleum, hydroelectric power,
                  coffee and cattle, but that wealth does not extend to the one third of
                  Chiapas' inhabitants who are members of nine indigenous groups.

                  "The wealth of Chiapas contrasts with the poverty of its people," the Roman
                  Catholic Diocese of San Cristobal said in a published document. "Unless this
                  disparity is corrected, it is difficult to imagine the success of reconciliation
                  and peace in the state."

                   Already ahead of the polling, Zapatista rebels -- who staged a brief
                   uprising on New Year's Day 1994 to demand "justice, democracy and
                   liberty" -- and opposition parties accused the government of planning
                   vote fraud.

                   However, fears of election-day violence eased on Saturday when the
                   Zapatistas pledged not to interfere with the vote.

                  "In view of the fledgling efforts of the civil society to re-establish a climate of
                  dialogue, the Zapatista Army will not undertake any type of action which
                  would delay or interfere with the elections," said a statement issued by
                  Subcomandante Marcos, the leader of the Zapatista rebels.

                  Despite that statement, there were indications from throughout the area of
                  rebel influence that Zapatista supporters would probably boycott Sunday's
                  elections.

                  Zapatista supporters, mostly Indian peasants, have set up more than 30
                  parallel local governments in defiance of state control, some of them issuing
                  birth, marriage and death certificates and directing public works.

                  "Why should we vote? We already have our authorities," said Domingo
                  Perez Paciencia, president of a rebel government in the highlands county of
                  Chenalho.

                  Peace talks between the government and the Zapatistas have been
                  deadlocked since 1996, when the government reneged on preliminary
                  agreements on Indian autonomy, saying the agreements were too vague.

                  Civic Alliance, a national election watchdog group, criticized both the
                  Zapatista boycott and harassment of rebel supporters by government troops.

                  The Mexican military said 20,000 troops are in the state, but church and
                  human rights officials said the number is significantly higher.

                  Chiapas also has a history of human rights violations. Civic Alliance speaks
                  of "a systematic pattern of human rights violations on the part of the
                  authorities responsible for ensuring public security."

                  Hundreds of civilians have died in political violence in the state, including 45
                  Indians who were massacred by paramilitaries last December.

                       The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.