Elections in Mexico

Elections in Mexico are held for officials at federal, state, and municipal levels. At the federal level, the nation's head of state, the president , is directly elected with the popular vote by all Mexican citizens for a six-year non-renewable term. All members of the bicameral federal legislature, the Congress of the Union, are also elected by all Mexican citizens. At the state level, each state has an elective governor and unicameral congress. At the municipal level, the municipal presidents are also elected by their citizens. Since 2016, a constitutional amendment has designed Mexico City to be a fully autonomous entity on par with the states. Its city mayor, city congress, and borough mayors are elected by their citizens in a similar fashion to those states.

Voting

Voter eligibility

Main article: Mexican nationality law

Mexican citizens over 18 years of age are eligible to vote in all Mexican elections. In order to carry the ballot, the citizen should first request a Voting Credential (Spanish: Credencial para Votar), a plastic card issues by the National Electoral Institute (Spanish: Instituto Nacional Electoral, INE) of the federal government.

To receive Voting Credential, the citizen need:

• Proof of either their birth in Mexico or their naturalization
• Some form of photo ID
• Proof of their residence

Political parties

Main article: List of political parties in Mexico

Mexico has a multi-party system, with three dominant political parties. Prior to 2000 Mexico had a dominant-party system under the Institutional Revolutionary Party, and a number of smaller opposition parties. Alliances and coalitions are common: normally, they are local (state) affairs and involve one of the big three and any number of minor parties, though in extraordinary occasions two of the big three will ally themselves against the third (e.g., 2003 Colima state election or 2004 Chihuahua state election).

Indigenous communities

Main article: Indigenous peoples of Mexico

Article 2 of the Constitution of Mexico provides for the self-government of indigenous communities according to their "traditional customs" (Spanish: sistema de usos y costumbres). This has resulted in several indigenous communities in Mexico maintaining local systems, notably those of Cherán, and areas under Councils of Good Government control.

Federal elections

Overview

According to the Constitution of Mexico, the federal government of Mexico (Spanish: Gobierno federal de México or Poderes de la Unión) has three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive branch is headed by the president of Mexico (Spanish: Presidente de México) who serves as the head of state and head of government of Mexico, and also the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Armed Forces. The legislative branch, named Congress of the Union (Spanish: Congreso de la Unión), is a bicameral body consists of the Senate of the Republic (Spanish: Senado de la República) and the Chamber of Deputies (Spanish: Cámara de Diputados). The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (Spanish: Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación).

Under the current Mexican electoral system, the president of Mexico is directly elected for a six-year non-renewable term. The 128 senators (Spanish: senadores) are elected for a six-year term. The 500 deputies (Spanish: diputados) are elected for a three-year term. Officials of the Supreme Court are not open for election. The elections are also synchronized that Mexican citizens elect the president, senators, and deputies at once every six years. A midterm election for the deputies will happen in the mid point of the six-year period.

Presidential elections

Main articles: President of Mexico and Sexenio (Mexico)

The president of Mexico (Spanish: Presidente de México) is elected for a six-year term by direct election of the population. The candidate who wins a plurality of votes is elected president. No president can serve more than a single term in office, therefore every presidential election in Mexico is a non-incumbent election.

Mexico does not have an office of vice president.

Eligibility

Candidates for president must be at least 35 years old. They must be Mexican citizens by birth, as must one of their parents. They must have been residents of Mexico for at least 20 years. They also cannot have been either the governor of a state or the chief of government of Mexico City for six months prior to the election.

Congressional elections

The lawmaking authority of Mexico is vested in the Congress of the Union (Spanish: Congreso de la Unión) which is composed of two chambers.

Chamber of Deputies elections

The Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) has 500 members, elected for a three-year term. 300 deputies are elected in single-seat constituencies by plurality. The constituencies are divided among the 32 states based on population. The remaining 200 deputies are elected by proportional representation in five multi-state, 40-seat constituencies.

To be eligible to place candidates in the multi-seat districts a party must have candidates in at least 200 of the 300 single-seat districts and must win at least 2% of the vote in those elections. The 200 PR-seats are distributed based on the percentage of the total national votes earned by each party without taking into account the 300 plurality-seats (parallel voting). However, since 1996, a party cannot get more seats overall than 8% above its result nationally (i.e., to win 50% of the legislative seats, a party must win at least 42% of the vote nationwide). There are three exceptions on this rule: first, a party can only lose PR-seats due to this rule (and no plurality-seats); second, a party can never get more than 300 seats overall (even if it has more than 52% of the vote nationally); and third, a party can exceed this 8% rule if it wins the seats in the single-member districts. Deputies may serve up to four consecutive terms.

Senate elections

The Chamber of Senators (Cámara de Senadores) has 128 members, elected for a six-year term. 96 of these seats are in three-seat constituencies (corresponding to the nation's 31 states and Mexico City, the former Federal District which is the national capital). In these constituencies, two seats are awarded to the party with the most votes and one seat is awarded to the party with the second most votes. The remaining 32 seats are awarded by proportional representation on a nationwide basis. Senators may run for a consecutive term.

Eligibility

Candidates for the Chamber of Senators must be registered voters at least 25 years old. They also must have been born in, or been residents of the states they are running in for at least six months. Electoral magistrates, the Secretary of the Electoral Tribunal, and the Executive Secretary and Executive Director of the INE must separate themselves from their positions for at least three years before seeking legislative office.

State and Mexico City elections

Mexico has 32 federative entity (Spanish: entidades federativas) which includes 31 states and Mexico City. Each federative entity elects its own head of executive (governor or head of government) and all members of legislature (congress).

Governor and head of government

Main articles: Lists of Mexican state governors, List of mayors of Mexico City, and List of current state governors in Mexico

The leader of a federative entity is officially named governor (Spanish: gobernador) for a Mexican state, and head of government (Spanish: Jefe/Jefa de Gobierno) for Mexico City. These officials are elected for a six-year non-renewable term by the citizens of that federative entity.

To be a governor of a state or head of government of Mexico City:

• Candidates born in the federative entity must have been a resident for three years previous to the election
• Candidates born outside of the federative entity must have been residents for five years previous to the election
• Candidates must be at least 30 years old
• Candidates cannot have been a minister of any religion for five years previous to the election
• Candidates cannot have been in the military or a head of public security forces for 90 days previous to the election
• Candidates cannot have citizenship in any country other than Mexico

Congress

Main article: List of Mexican state congresses

Each federative entity has a unicameral legislature officially named congress (Spanish: congreso). Members of the congresses are called deputies (Spanish: diputados). All seats of the congress are elected to three-year terms in a mixed electoral system. Deputies can serve up to four consecutive terms.

For example, there are 75 seats in the Congress of the State of México. Forty-five seats are apportioned in direct elections in single-member districts and 30 are apportioned via proportional appointments. Political parties nominate their candidates for proportional appointments before the election. For a party to be eligible for proportional-appointment seats they must run candidates in at least 30 districts and receive at least 3% of the vote throughout the state.

Similar to the federal Chamber of Deputies, a party cannot have more than 8% more seats in the legislature than their percentage of state-wide votes (e.g., to win 50% of the legislative seats, a party must win at least 42% of the vote statewide) unless that excess was earned in the direct elections.

To be a deputy of the congress:

• Candidates born in the federative entity must have been a resident for one year previous to the election
• Candidates born outside of the federative entity must have been residents for three years previous to the election
• Candidates must be at least 21 years old
• Candidates cannot have been a minister of any religion for five years previous to the election
• Candidates cannot have worked for any election commission for two years previous to the election
• Candidates cannot have been a sitting municipal or federal legislator for 90 days previous to the election
• Candidates cannot have been a sitting judge for 90 days previous to the election
• Candidates cannot have been in the military or a head of public security forces for 90 days previous to the election
• Candidates cannot be a sitting governor

Municipal and borough elections

Under the current administrative divisions of Mexico, states are divided into municipalities and Mexico City is divided into boroughs. The autonomy of these divisions are protected by the Constitution of Mexico. Leaders of these divisions, called municipal presidents (Spanish: presidentes municipales) or borough mayors (Spanish: alcaldes), are directly elected.

Schedule

Federal elections

• 2024 Mexican general election (Presidential, Senate, Chamber of Deputies)
• 2021 Mexican legislative election (Chamber of Deputies)
• 2018 Mexican general election (Presidential, Senate, Chamber of Deputies)
• 2015 Mexican legislative election (Chamber of Deputies)
• 2012 Mexican general election (Presidential, Senate, Chamber of Deputies)
• 2009 Mexican legislative election (Chamber of Deputies)

State elections

• 2024 Mexican local elections
• 2023 Mexican local elections
• 2022 Mexican local elections
• 2021 Mexican local elections
• 2020 Mexican local elections

See also

• Electoral system
• Elections in the United States

External links

• Election 2012 Mexico official website.
• IFE website Archived 2017-03-18 at the Wayback Machine
• Mexico page of the ACE Project
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Electionworld