Pre-electoral campaign in Mexico: Adjustments
The pre-electoral campaign in Mexico now has a set date in a process where two Mexican women will be the focus of attention for the region.
The General Council of the National Electoral Institute (INE) in Mexico approved, by a majority of votes, that the pre-campaign period will begin on November 20, 2024, and conclude on January 18, 2024.
This modification comes after the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Branch (TEPJF) ordered changes to the electoral calendar.
The pre-electoral campaign in Mexico was confirmed after some adjustments, though not without criticism. Despite the approval, several electoral councilors warned that the modification implies a risk for the oversight of the pre-campaign period.
These councilors said that the measure could undermine equity and certainty in the work of the Technical Oversight Unit and put the registration of candidacies at risk.
Adjustments
The INE will have up to 40 days to receive, review, and approve the oversight reports of the pre-candidates during the pre-electoral campaign in Mexico.
The Technical Oversight Unit must inform the Executive Directorate of Prerogatives and Political Parties, by February 27, 2024, of the names of the presidential, senatorial, and federal congressional pre-candidates who do not submit their pre-campaign reports.
Councilor Dania Ravel commented that having more personnel will not solve the limitation that the INE will face, as reviewing expense reports takes time.
“It’s a fallacy that having more people for oversight will allow us to meet these tight deadlines and conduct a review because the truth is, one person has to be able to read an entire project. It’s not as if we might have an army of people, and each person reads a line; someone has to be able to read everything to make an assessment.”
One of the challenges for the INE will be to review the origin and destination of the resources reported by the pre-candidates.
“I find it a greater risk that we end up very tight, not leaving room for the Tribunal to handle any challenges they might have against these oversight results,” said Councilor Claudia Zavala.
Councilor Jaime Rivera, on the other hand, proposed that the pre-campaigns end on January 11, in order to give the INE more time for expense review. However, the proposal was rejected with six votes against and five in favor.
Guadalupe Taddei, the president of the INE, indicated that the modification of the pre-campaign period is not within the authority of the electoral body, and thus, the 60-day pre-campaign period must be respected.
The electoral pre-campaign in Mexico would leave the schedule as follows:
With the modification to the pre-electoral campaign period in Mexico, the calendar is as follows:
- Pre-campaigns: November 20, 2024, to January 18, 2024
- Review and approval of pre-campaign expenditure oversight: No later than February 27, 2024
- Inter-campaign period: January 19 to February 29, 2024
- Election campaigns: March 1 to May 29, 2024
- Election day: June 2, 2024
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