Mexico Holds World's First Nationwide Direct Election of All Judges
Nine Supreme Court Candidates Likely to Win Have Government Ties
President Sheinbaum: "The Judge Election Is a Success"
As Mexico held a special election in which all judges were directly elected by the public, it was found that all candidates likely to win seats on the Supreme Court are classified as 'pro-government and ruling party-leaning.' On June 2 (local time), Yonhap News reported, "According to the online Supreme Court election vote count status from the Mexican National Electoral Institute (INE), as of 60% of votes counted, candidates Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, Lenia Batres, Yasmin Esquivel, Loretta Ortiz, Giovanni Figueroa Mejia, and Irving Espinosa Betanzo are highly likely to be elected."
All of these candidates are known to be close associates of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party. In order to register as a Supreme Court candidate, a recommendation from one of the legislative, judicial, or executive branches was required. Aguilar Ortiz, Figueroa Mejia, and Espinosa Betanzo were recommended by the executive branch. Batres, Esquivel, and Ortiz are incumbent Supreme Court justices who entered the court on the recommendation of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a founding figure of MORENA. Those ranked 7th to 9th also received overlapping recommendations from both the executive and legislative branches.
If there is no significant change in the current voting trend, it is expected that all nine Supreme Court justices will be government- and ruling party-friendly figures, raising concerns about concentration of power and distrust in the judiciary. Previously, Daniel Flores Curiel, a professor at the University of Nuevo Leon in Mexico, told Yonhap News, "Judges elected through this process will be pressured that they cannot guarantee their terms if they make decisions that do not please the executive branch," adding, "This could also pose a considerable burden for Korean companies operating locally."
Previously, the Mexican Congress, led by the ruling coalition, passed a constitutional amendment that includes the introduction of direct elections for all judges by popular vote. This amendment also includes reducing the number of Supreme Court justices (from 11 to 9), shortening their terms (from 15 to 12 years), abolishing lifetime pensions for justices, and prohibiting judges' salaries from exceeding the presidential salary cap. Mexico is the first country where all judges within the judiciary are directly elected by the public. In the United States, some states allow voters to directly elect judges, but Mexico has implemented this system nationwide. The Mexican electoral commission is counting votes for the Supreme Court election first among all vote tallies. The number of winners is 881 for federal judges.
The Mexican government has promoted this as a 'historic' vote, but amid a low turnout projected at around 13%, various allegations of election fraud have continued to emerge. According to Yonhap News, a type of cheat sheet, locally called an 'accordion' because it resembles a folded musical instrument, was reportedly found widely across the country. Local media pointed out, "These sheets mainly listed the names of pro-ruling party judicial candidates." There were also reports that former President Lopez Obrador brought such a sheet with him to the polling station. In some cases, cheat sheets that could be eaten after voting to destroy evidence were reported to authorities, and prosecutors have begun fact-checking these allegations. However, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated at a regular press conference that day, "The judge election is a success," and said she would wait for the vote count results.
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