AMLO's 2024 Electoral Reforms - Explained
Buried in a list of constitutional reforms presented by the president is a proposal for significant reforms to Mexico's electoral laws. What exactly do these electoral reforms entail?
AMLO’s 2024 Reforms
On February 5th of this year, Mexico’s President, Andrés Manual López Obrador (AMLO), announced a series of 20 reforms, 18 of which require changes to Mexico’s Constitution. These reforms range in focus and scope, but according to AMLO, their uniting factor is that they all target laws that are “antipopular” and were all introduced during neoliberal periods of government throughout the past 40 years. These proposed reforms range from free universal healthcare and the prohibition of animal abuse to the legal recognition of indigenous and Afro-Mexican people in Mexico.
Buried in these reforms, however, are proposals for significant changes to Mexico’s electoral laws, including the election of judges, magistrates, and ministers via popular vote, the elimination of plurinominal legislators, and the disappearance of Mexico’s electoral institute, El Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE).
AMLO’s history with electoral reforms can be traced back to the presidential election of 2006, when AMLO alleges he himself was the victim of electoral fraud.
AMLO is no stranger to electoral reforms; this is his third attempt at electoral reform and with only eight months left in his presidential term, this is likely the last opportunity for the passage. Mexico’s elections are just four months away and though these proposed reforms will not impact the current electoral cycle, they will have an impact on the political scene in Mexico. While the passage of these reforms is unlikely to significantly sway the outcome of the election, it will irrevocably alter politics in Mexico by putting the well-being of democracy in Mexico directly at stake.
2024 Proposed Electoral Reforms
AMLO’s most recent round of reforms to Mexico’s electoral laws marks his third attempt. In the spirit of increasing “efficiency, austerity, and transparency,” the reforms call for significant changes to Mexico’s political process. Though most of the proposed reforms are controversial, the perhaps most controversial of them all is the proposal to eliminate the El Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) in favor of the Instituto Nacional de Elecciones y Consultas (INEC) to facilitate the centralization of both local and federal elections – in the words of AMLO. The INEC would be the sole body responsible for managing all elections in Mexico, even the local ones, also replacing Organismos Públicos Locales and taking over their functions. Experts, however, argue that the elimination of the INE and local election observation bodies makes the possibility of election fraud that much easier.
Changes to the Judiciary
The reforms include significant changes to Mexico’s judicial branch, specifically the election of judges via popular vote at all levels of the judiciary (Mexico’s Supreme Court - Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN), Consejo de la Judicatura Federal (CJF), Tribunal Electoral de Poder Judicial de la Federación (TEPJF), circuit and district courts). The first election cycle for these officials would take place in June 2025 and they would take office on September 1, 2025. Current SCJN judges would vacate their roles that same day. The reform proposes a decrease in the number of ministers serving on the SCJN, from 11 to 9 ministers who will serve terms of 8, 12, or 14 years (the term length based on the amount of votes they receive at the polls) instead of 15-year terms. Mexico’ president will nominate 10 candidates, the SCJN another 10 (approval vote granted from six members in the plenary session), and Congress another 10 candidates (five from the Senate and five from the Chamber of Deputies). The reform also proposes significant changes to the TEPJF, the branch of Mexico’s judiciary that specializes in electoral matters, a decrease in members from 11 to six, a decrease in term from nine to seven years, and election to the Tribunal via popular vote.
Changes to the Legislative Branch, Funding, and Popular Consults
The electoral reforms include a reduction call for a reduction in the number of representatives in Mexico’s legislative branch, eliminating proportional representation and plurinominal legislators. Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies would have 300 deputies, rather than the original 500 and the Senate would have 64 Senators, rather than the original 128 - all of whom will be elected via relative majority. At the local level, local deputies will be capped at a maximum of 45 individuals and a minimum of 15, but the exact number will be proportional to the number of residents in the area. Another key element of the electoral reforms is the proposal to reduce the required participation from 40% to 30% for popular consultations to be binding. The electoral reforms include a reduction, by half, in public financing for political parties – an amount which will be calculated on an annual basis (multiplying the total number of citizens registered to vote by 33% of the daily value of “la Unidad de Medida y Actualización.”
What’s next for the 2024 Electoral Reforms?
These reforms have been sent to the Chamber of Deputies for an initial vote, but an exact date for the vote has not yet been set. Should the reforms pass in the Chamber of Deputies, they will then be sent to the Senate for a final vote. The Senate will hold 16 regular sessions between now and April 30th, the last day of the spring 2024 legislative term. AMLO has acknowledged the tight timeline and the potential for the opposition legislators to reject the reforms.
But in typical AMLO fashion, the president argues that the rejection of the reforms will allow the people to see who is against the transformation being led by Morena – a key opportunity now that Mexico’s electoral season is officially underway.
The Origins of AMLO’s Electoral Reforms
The February 2024 reforms trace their origins back to AMLO’s previous attempts at electoral reform, the first of which came in April 2022 and is now retroactively known as “Plan A.” These reforms also included the transformation of the INE into the INEC with seven members instead of the original 11 - all of whom were to be selected via popular vote, rather than appointment. The proposed reform also included a reduction of public funding and media time for political parties during campaign seasons. Additionally, the reform called for the elimination of at-large lawmakers with a decrease in the number of senators, from 128 to 96, and a decrease in federal deputies, from 500 to 300. According to AMLO, the purpose of these reforms was to make the cost of democracy cheaper by saving more than $20B Mexican pesos. This proposal involved changes to 18 constitutional articles and seven transitory articles. Amendments to the Mexican Constitution require a 2/3rds majority vote from the federal Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber of Deputies voted on December 6th, 2022 with 269 votes in favor of the reforms, 225 against the reforms, and one abstention – meaning that the vote did not pass. Months before the reforms went to Congress for a vote, AMLO, cognizant of the likelihood of their failure to pass, prepared an edited, second version of the reforms (known as “Plan B”) which went to Congress for a vote just one day after “Plan A” didn’t pass.
lt of the failure to pass the initial round of electoral reforms, AMLO developed “Plan B,” emphasizing his desire to lower the cost of elections in Mexico while also eliminating electoral fraud. A key distinction between Plans A and B is that “Plan B” involved changes to secondary electoral laws, not the Constitution. “Plan B’s” proposed reforms included significant changes to the INE, such as a decrease in administrative functions of the INE as well as a decrease in the number of INE offices from 300 to 264. Not only were these changes estimated to save $3.5B Mexican pesos, but they were to also eliminate corruption and facilitate voting. AMLO’s “Plan B” received widespread public criticism and launched several popular movements around the country with protests against the proposed reforms intended to weaken and dismantle the INE. However, Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies approved the legislation on December 7th, 2022, but just two days later, AMLO announced the need for minor changes to the proposed legislation. The Senate passed “Plan B” on February 22nd, 2023 with 72 votes in favor and 50 against.
Despite the passage of “Plan B” in Mexico’s legislative assembly, the first portion of the legislation was declared unconstitutional by Mexico’s Supreme Court on May 8th, 2023. Nine of the Court’s 11 justices voted the legislation unconstitutional as it was rushed through the voting process in Congress (the Chamber of Deputies spent less than three hours presenting, discussing, and voting on the legislation), making debate impossible.
Additionally, the Court voted (ten to one) that “Plan B” violated the rights of indigenous communities to be included in discussions regarding political and electoral process changes with sufficient anticipation.
Justice Alberto Pérez Dayán argued that “The challenged decree violates the right to freedom of expression, transparency, access to public information and accountability,” and “Neither the Chamber of Deputies nor the Senate provided spaces in which the citizenry could actively participate in the discussion of the regulations of social communication, with an impact on electoral processes,” he said.
A well researched and written post 👏