Mexico's ruling party expands power in Supreme Court after elections marred by low turnout

CNN

2 days ago

Mexico's ruling party Morena will gain control of the Supreme Court following the country's first-ever judicial elections, which were marred by low voter turnout and allegations of a power grab.
Preliminary results from Sunday's race showed candidates linked with Morena winning most seats on the judiciary. With the victory, the party will now have a firm grip over every branch of government, a change that democracy advocates say weakens the country's checks and balances.
Critics have also warned that the election itself poses a risk to democracy, arguing that by having judges elected through popular vote, the independent authority of the courts could be compromised, and with it, their ability to uphold the law and keep other powers in check at a time of rampant crime and corruption.
Around 100 million citizens were eligible to participate in Sunday's event, but only about 13% showed up to vote. Experts say the figures reflected confusion among voters who were overwhelmed by the large number of positions and candidates to choose from.
Víctor Manuel Alarcón Olguín, a research professor at the university UAM-Iztapalapa who focuses on political parties and elections, also faulted the way the process was designed. He said legislators 'did not provide the electoral authority with a sufficiently well-defined method, and the electoral authority had to resolve many of these technical problems on the fly in order, at least, to try to make this system work.'
Fareed explains how Mexico's controversial judicial elections could radically reshape the country's rule of law — for the worse. Among the nine projected winners in the Supreme Court race are three sitting justices who had been nominated by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the founder of Morena. Others include a former legal adviser to López Obrador, the current human rights prosecutor of the Attorney General's Office, and an indigenous lawyer who is expected to become the court's next president.
'Many of these people, at best, do not show an affiliation or such an obvious participation with the ruling party, but they do have very diverse interests or connections, or at least ideological or manifest affinities, let's say, in terms of their profiles and professional activities that place them in a circle very close to the government,' said Alarcón Olguín.
All nine candidates appeared in pamphlets that Morena members were accused of handing out to voters to suggest which candidates they should vote for. Election rules prohibit political parties from promoting or supporting judicial candidates.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the leader of Morena, has tried to distance herself from the pamphlets, condemning their use and calling for an investigation into the matter.
Sunday's race marked the first time any country has held elections at every level of the judiciary. Almost 900 federal posts were in play, including all nine seats on the Supreme Court, as well as some 1,800 local positions in 19 states. Votes are still being counted across the country, with results expected to be announced gradually over the next week. A second vote for hundreds of other judicial positions will be held in 2027.
Sheinbaum labeled Sunday's election a success.
'In Mexico, voting is voluntary. It is not mandatory. There are countries where it is mandatory, but not here — here it is free, direct, universal, and secret. So, 13 million people decided to vote in an exercise for the judiciary. That is very good,' she said.
Lopez Obrador and his party approved the judicial election in September, arguing that a popular vote would help stem corruption and impunity within the courts.
But critics say Morena was seizing on its popularity to get like-minded justices elected, with the goal of passing through reforms that the previous, more-balanced courts had blocked. They also fear that the vote could be influenced by political actors and criminal groups.
Eight justices on the then-11-seat Supreme Court announced their resignations in October, declining to participate in Sunday's election. Most resignations are effective August 31, 2025, a day before the new court is set to begin.