Mexican lawmakers passed several judicial reforms in September 2024, setting the stage for the country’s first-ever direct vote to elect judges at all levels.
Mexicans will vote on June 1 in the country’s first-ever judicial election. The outcome will determine the composition of the country’s court system, from the lowest level magistrate courts up to the Supreme Court.
In all, the country is set to remake its judiciary branch in two rounds of voting.
According to Mexico’s National Electoral Institute, more than 4,000 candidates will compete on Sunday for approximately 900 seats at all levels of Mexico’s federal judicial court system, including all nine positions on Mexico’s Supreme Court.
Thousands more candidates will compete for 1,800 local judicial seats across 19 of Mexico’s 31 states.
Mexico will hold a second round of elections in 2027 to cover the rest of the country’s judicial seats in the remaining 12 states and in the federal district of Mexico City.
Until last fall, Mexico had relied on an appointment system, whereby the country’s federal judicial council filled vacancies based on criteria that considered merit and experience.
The country’s first-ever attempt at a fully democratic vote to decide its judiciary system has met with both excitement and consternation.
In August 2024, then-U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar issued a statement cautioning Mexico’s congress over the types of reforms they were considering.
“I believe popular direct election of judges is a major risk to the functioning of Mexico’s democracy,” Salazar wrote.
Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who frequently clashed with Mexican judges, has been a proponent of the changes.
In September 2024, Mexico’s congress approved a series of reforms. In addition to moving to a popular vote for selecting judges, the reforms reduced the number of Supreme Court seats from 11 to nine, halved the necessary work experience to five years, and did away with a requirement for judge candidates to be at least 35 years old.
Obrador’s party, the left-wing populist Morena Party, championed these reforms. President Claudia Sheinbaum, who is López Obrador’s successor and a fellow Morena Party member, has also cheered the proposed changes to the judicial system.
“This Sunday, June 1st, women and men will go out to elect a better judiciary. Participating is the best way to continue the transformation of our beloved homeland. Let’s all vote,” Sheinbaum said in a May 30 post on social media platform X.
Critics of the reforms have warned the changes will politicize the judiciary, with judges refraining from challenging the edicts of the country’s ruling party.
By Ryan Morgan
