UNIORE recommends that the INE investigate "accordions" for the judicial election

MEXICO CITY (apro).- Like the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the international monitoring missions documented irregularities during the judicial elections held on June 1, particularly the distribution of "accordions," and recommended that the National Electoral Institute investigate who printed them and evaluate how they influenced the election results.

"The Mission suggests that the INE assess the impact of these 'accordions' on voter coercion in this process. Furthermore, since the printing of such materials is expressly prohibited by electoral reform, the Mission considers it essential to conduct the corresponding audit to determine the origin of the printed materials that circulated in the days leading up to and on election day, without any oversight, in order to prevent illicit conduct," stated the Inter-American Union of Electoral Organizations (UNIORE) in the 239-page report that three observation missions submitted to the National Electoral Institute (INE).

According to this document, the distribution of accordions evidenced the "existence of a systematic and organized plan, with national scope, that could have affected the fairness of the contest and violated the free exercise of the vote, by being linked to practices such as the purchase, coercion or inducement of suffrage," and added that "although the use of 'accordions' is not illegal per se , it can raise doubts about the legitimacy of the vote," insisted UNIORE, which urged the INE to regulate the use of accordions in future elections.

Throughout the report, the organizations documented problems already highlighted by other observers, such as the "significant" shortcomings of the judicial reform, the haste of the election, the cuts to the INE budget, the lack of uniform criteria in candidate selection, the complicated design of the ballots, and the extremely low participation rate—barely 13%—of which they highlighted a high proportion of spoiled votes.

Although more conciliatory in tone than the OAS preliminary report—which recommended that countries in the region avoid repeating Mexico's judicial election—or that of Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers—who denounced "serious deficiencies" in the implementation of judicial reform—the report of the international missions coincides, in its observations, with the general criticisms surrounding the judicial election.

Beyond President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and Morena activists, who have hailed the elections as a "total success" and a demonstration that Mexico is the "most democratic country in the world," the model for electing judges, magistrates, and ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) has received severe criticism, both nationally and abroad.

Overall, the organizations acknowledged that the INE performed its best work under the adverse conditions that characterized this unprecedented election, resulting from the judicial reform promoted by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

"Despite the difficulties faced by the INE in organizing this electoral process—such as the lack of financial resources and the challenges associated with implementing electoral regulations—the experience, knowledge, and professionalism of its staff were fundamental factors in its successful implementation," the observers stated.

The OAS observation mission noted, for example, the similarity between the "accordions" and the election winners, and emphasized that the ministers of the new SCJN are close to the president.

Satterthwaite, for his part, deplored "irregular nominations, inconsistent pre-selection criteria, opaque procedures, and alleged links between candidates and organized crime," and warned that "the deficiencies noted in this first vote risk eroding the institutional framework and public confidence in the justice system."

In Mexico, debates over the legitimacy of the election also shook the political world, with accusations from the opposition that it was an operation to install a judiciary aligned with the ruling party, or the rifts they caused within the INE (National Electoral Institute)—when a group of councilors proposed not recognizing the validity of the election due to irregularities—and within the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Branch (TEPJF), which concluded that there was insufficient evidence to determine that the accordions had influenced the election.