Mexicans cast ballots for nation’s judges in controversial, first-ever vote

Mexico City – Mexican citizens He went to the polls on Sunday To be attacked by President Claudia Sheinbaum as a rude maneuver to choose thousands of judges with a historical vote supported as a fundamental democratic reform and to reinforce the power of the decision party by competitors and many legal experts.

Voting, Mexico for the first time after passing a series of legal exams or in the event of the Court of Cassation, after the presidential candidacy of the judges appointed by the investigation panels said.

Sunday votes, experts, Mexico’s first country to choose the judges, he said.

Sheinbaum, who was corrupt and disturbed by the current judgment, gave a thumb to journalists because they were replaced by a chest at the Museum of Art in the city center of Mexico City.

“Old live democracy!” X declared After throwing the first pair of votes.

There is a president given Judicial reform as a key component of efforts to prevent Mexican crime cartels, which is closely monitored by the Trump administration. However, detectors estimate a partisan judiciary for the ruling Morena party, and more vulnerable to bribery and infiltration of organized crime.

Fernando Belaunzarán, a member of the headquarters of the right National Action Party, said the protesters gathered at the Başkent Angel of Independence Monument on Sunday. “Today, the control and balance system is dead.

Some opposition deputies called for a boycott, and the process labeled a nonsense to support the power of Sheinbaum’s leftist Morena political blog. In addition to keeping the presidency, Morena dominates the Mexican Congress, the Mexican city government and many state houses.

In addition to severe polemics, the election created a widespread confusion.

Voters faced a scary task: selecting 881 federal judges, more than half of the federal judiciary. Citizens, mostly unknown to the public, more than 3,000 islands listed at least six separate, color -coded votes had to browse. Elections are held for 2027 to choose the rest of the federal counter.

In addition, voters in 18 states and Mexico City chose 1,800 regional judges.

Participation seemed stagnant, and a few votes in the capital occurred on Sunday. Many elderly voters struggled to make a choice between many candidates. Many people took 20 minutes or more to fill their ballots.

“I’m so sorry,” 57 -year -old Alberto Romero Díaz said, a car washing that is waiting to vote in the capital. “I was waiting for an hour here. This is very badly organized.”

Many voters carried the cheat pages that list the numbers corresponding to the preferred candidates. The ruling party officials refused to distribute widely distributed cheat pages known as here. acordeones (accordion) because guidelines are folded like a musical instrument.

“Of course we used accordion to help us,” said 42 -year -old Jerónimo Contreras, a businessman accompanying his old parents in a chest. “One needs to enter many numbers, very complex.”

Cheat pages, Sheinbaum’un supported by the Morena party said that the candidates said. Morena -backed candidates, Contreras, Government financial aid and other social assistance programs initiated by the ruling party will ensure the continuation of the continuation of.

“The people who help the judges MORENA and the president are on the same side – and that’s good thing,” Contreras said.

The elections are not officially partisan. The contestants were not defined by party connection. Financing candidates for political parties were banned.

Critics said that the veterinarians of the candidates are grieving inadequate and some candidates have ties to organize crime or other ethical deficiencies. Sheinbaum said only a few candidates looked unqualified.

There was no immediate word about voter participation, which was seen as an important test of the validity of the election. Participation is expected to be far below 60% of voters voting in the last year’s national vote.

The most watched competition is the election of nine members of the new Supreme Court. In accordance with the election reform, the country’s highest court will see both a decrease in the number of justice (now 11) and new restrictions on the ability of the court to invalidate the laws of the Constitution.

Last year, the vote was the result of frequent constitutional amendments in court decisions that prevented his attempts by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, such as President Trump. The Mexican Congress, dominated by Morena, quickly watched radical judicial makeup and rejected the criticism that the movement was another step towards one -party rule.

The election included the appearance of a rare public opinion that he had retired to a family farm last year after completing his six -year period in the state of Southern Chiapas. The Mexican law prohibits the re -election of the Presidency. The former president, who founded the Morena party and was the mentor of Sheinbaum, hired a low profile.

López Obrador, an enthusiastic amateur historian, said that he was working on a work of Mexico, the last book of Mexico, before the 16th century, Spanish Conquistadores.

In short comments to journalists, the former president, who broke Sheinbaum from his relative academic uncertainty to start his extraordinary political rise, greeted the judicial vote and praised the protein.

“I wanted to participate in this historical election, L López Obrador said after voting, adding the following to journalists, saying,” We have the best president in the world! ” He said.

The official results of Sunday’s elections are not expected for two weeks. After the election officials approved the vote, the newly elected judges are planned to take office on September 1.

McDonnell is a Times staff writer and Sánchez Vidal is a special correspondent.