Election of Judges in Mexico Was Marked by a Low Turnout
HAVANA TIMES – Mexico has become the first country to elect all of its judges through a popular vote by its citizens, although only 13 percent of eligible voters participated in the election held on June 1.
President Claudia Sheinbaum declared, “The historic election of the judiciary has been a complete success. Nearly 13 million Mexicans went out to exercise—for the first time in history—their right to decide who should be the new Supreme Court justices, appellate judges, and local judges.”
“Yes, Mexico is the most democratic country in the world,” the president proclaimed.
The United States and Switzerland elect judges through popular vote in some districts, and Bolivia similarly selects the heads of its judicial branch. However, Mexico is the first to use universal suffrage to elect officials for all 2,681 courts in a country of 130 million people.
Nearly 8,000 candidates ran for these positions, many of them completely unknown to the vast majority of voters, who had to fill out six different colored ballots depending on the level of the positions being elected—something that contributed to a turnout lower than the 15 percent predicted by several polls.
The popular election of judges was a process pushed by center-left former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (2018–2024) and his party, Morena (National Regeneration Movement), which holds a majority in Congress and to which Sheinbaum also belongs.
Lopez Obrador, who had stepped away from public life after handing over the presidency to Sheinbaum on October 1, reappeared to vote in the June election in the southern state of Chiapas. He appeared joyful and, in a brief exchange with the press, said, “I’m very happy to live in a free and democratic country.”
Opposition political parties, national and international human rights organizations, and officials from the United Nations human rights system had criticized the mechanism of electing judges through popular vote.
They particularly warned of the risks of politicization, of positions being filled based on popularity rather than qualifications, and especially of criminal organizations—which in Mexico control or influence entire territories—managing to place their own people in judicial positions who would then rule on their activities and legality.
The ruling party presented the popular election of judges as not only democratic but also a more effective mechanism for combating judicial corruption and addressing impunity, which in some areas affects up to 90 percent of reported crimes.
The results will take about 10 days to be announced because the vote count was not done at polling stations but will take place at centers run by the National Electoral Institute. The count will begin with the Supreme Court justices and continue with circuit, district, and municipal judges.
As part of the judicial reform approved by Congress, the Supreme Court will be reduced from 11 to nine members, who will serve 12-year terms instead of the current 15.
Only three of the current members of the Court, considered aligned with the ruling party, participated in the recent election. The other eight, who resigned and declined to seek reelection, opposed the judicial reform, arguing that it threatens the independence of the judiciary.
The reform also created a Disciplinary Tribunal for the judiciary, a five-member court tasked with oversight and empowered to sanction judges. The ruling party backed 30 of the 38 candidates for that court.
Mexico plans to elect another 1,000 judicial positions in 2027.