Preview of the Federal Electoral Process in Mexico: An International Perspective Manuel González Oropeza

Transcription

1 Preview of the Federal Electoral Process in Mexico: An International Perspective Manuel González Oropeza Justice of the Supreme Court of Elections

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3 Preview of the Federal Electoral Process in Mexico: An International Perspective Manuel González Oropeza Justice of the Supreme Court of Elections México, 2015

4 Edición D.R. Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación. Carlota Armero núm. 5000, colonia CTM Culhuacán, CP 04480, delegación Coyoacán, México, DF. Teléfonos y Impreso en México.

5 5 Preview of the Federal Electoral Process in Mexico: An International Perspective Federal Electoral Process in Numbers Federal Electoral Process The Federal Electoral Process began on Tuesday October 7, 2014, and the election was held on June 7, ,179 federal and local elective offices were renewed in 17 states, which included 500 federal representatives (300 by plurality and 200 by proportional representation). (Source: INE) States with elections which coincide with the federal elections The 17 states which held local elections in 2015 were: Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Chiapas, Distrito Federal, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Estado de México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tabasco and Yucatán. Elections for Governor were held in nine states of the Republic: Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Sonora. In the states, 361 local representatives by majority rule, 279 local representatives by proportional representation, 993 city councils, 16 borough heads and 20 municipal boards were elected. (Source: INE) Parties and coalitions Participating political parties: 10 (3 of which obtained their registration on July 9, 2014). Coalitions: 2 (1 partial and 1 flexible). PRI-PVEM (partial): 250 joint candidates: 192 headed by the PRI and 58 by the PVEM. PRD-PT (flexible): 100 joint candidates: 64 headed by the PRD and 36 by the PT. Percentage needed to maintain party registration: 3%

6 6 Registry of Voters The Registry of Voters includes 83.5 million citizens, registered according to the geographic location of their place of residence. (Source: INE) Institutions participating in the Federal Electoral Process The National Electoral Institute (Instituto Nacional Electoral, INE) is the autonomous public body in charge of organizing the federal elections. It also organizes the local elections in the states of the Republic and the Federal District in coordination with the Local Public Electoral Bodies (Organismos Públicos Locales Electorales, OPLEs).

7 7 Popular Participation: % Preliminary Results (as reported June 11, 2015): National Results by Political Party (House of Representatives) The Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación, TEPJF) resolves the appeals of the electoral processes that are filed in our country. The Specialized Prosecutor s Office for Election Offenses (Fiscalía Especializada para la Atención de Delitos Electorales, FEPADE) is the institutional body dependent on the General Prosecutor s Office of the Republic (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR). It has the obligation to prevent, investigate and prosecute electoral infractions in a timely manner in accordance with the legal framework, and the infractions that violate the guarantees of the vote, alter the results of the elections or affect the legal course of the electoral process. The OPLEs organize the elections held in the states. The local Electoral Tribunals validate the results of the state elections. Judicial Scrutiny on the Federal Electoral Process During the midterm federal process of 2009, 1,578 cases were adjudicated. Meanwhile, between October 7, 2014, and June 6, 2015, the Supreme Court for Elections resolved 14,653 means of appeal regarding acts related to the preparation of the process, the pre-campaigns, the internal processes of candidate selection, the registration of candidates, the federal register of voter, the inter-campaign period and the electoral campaigns. During the midterm federal process of 2009, the average time for resolving the cases was 14 days, meanwhile during this electoral process they have been resolved in an average of 9 days. (SOURCE: Statistics Department of the General Secretariat of Agreements of the TEPJF).

8 8 The Regional Specialized Chamber has been resolving cases in 24 hours on average, in compliance with the deadlines established in the law. (Source: Statistics Department of the General Secretariat of Agreements of the TEPJF) Status on the Judicial Scrutiny After the election of June 7, 2015, the delivery of the electoral packages took place with regularity. The electoral process concludes once the local tribunals or, where applicable, the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary has resolved the last means of appeal presented, or when it has been confirmed that no appeals were presented. (Source: INE. Elecciones/PEF/ ) 2014 political-electoral reform During this election new powers and features were enforced deriving from the recent political-electoral reform approved in 2014, were put into practice. One of the changes was the creation of the Regional Specialized Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary in order to guarantee the equality of the electoral processes, which supervises the airtime and broadcasting in radio and television allocated to political parties and to candidates. It also attends to cases related to early campaign activities. The name of the Federal Electoral Institute (ife) changed to the National Electoral Institute (ine). It has the power to take over and organize local elections in case it is requested by the states of the Republic and to appoint the members of the Local Public Electoral Bodies (OPLEs). The recent reform established the obligation to nominate 50% of the candidates for representatives and senators of each gender as well as the requirement to nominate substitute candidates of the same gender, which applies both for the principle of plurality and of proportional representation. The reform also introduced surpassing the precampaign and campaign expenditure ceiling as a new cause for annulment of an election. Furthermore, the reform included independent candidates. (Source: Compendio Legislación Nacional Electoral) Electoral Process : International Visitors Program General Information Program for International Visitors Since 1997, a few days before Election Day, the electoral authorities of Mexico welcome international visitors that wish to take part in a program where they are informed on the main features of the electoral process. This program includes sessions in which national and international authorities, experts, academics and representatives from political parties, analyze the structure, performance, challenges and best practices in the Mexican electoral system from a comparative perspective. This year, the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary, the National Electoral Institute and the Specialized Prosecutor s Office for Election Offenses organized 11 sessions and a round table, with the following topics and participants:: Opening ceremony During this session, Constancio Carrasco Daza, Chief Justice of the TEPJF, Lorenzo Córdova, President of the General Council of INE, and Santiago Nieto, Specialized Prosecutor for Election Offenses, addressed the audience to explain the nature of each institution, their responsibilities and the challenges that the electoral process presents to the authorities. This session was moderated by the President of the Electoral Tribunal of Panama, Erasmo Pinilla.

9 9 Session 2: Foreign visitors missions: objectives and scope Two organizations introduced their work in Mexico for the Electoral Process: the Inter-American Union of Electoral Bodies (Unión Interamericana de Organismos Electorales, UNIORE) and the Organization of American States (OAS). The first mission was represented by one of the Co- Chairs of UNIORE and President of the Electoral Service of Chile, Patricio Santamaría, and by the representative of its Executive Secretariat and Director of the Advisory and Electoral Promotion Center (Centro de Asesoría y Promoción Electoral, CAPEL), Salvador Romero. They explained how UNIORE is organized and its current membership, as well as the methodology and main findings of two preliminary visits, in which they held interviews to assess the impact of the electoral reform which took place in , the development and regulations of campaigns, political finance and access to media, as well as the role of the TEPJF in the protection of political-electoral rights and access to justice. Laura Chinchilla, former president of Costa Rica and Head of the Foreign Visitors Mission of the OAS, also shared with the audience the history of observation missions deployed in the continent by the organization since 1962, preliminary comments from a previous visit to Mexico in April, as well as the different methodologies that would be applied, including gender, political finance and electoral justice, by 62 observers deployed through the country. This session was moderated by the Head of External Relations of the TEPJF, Alberto Guevara Castro. Session 3: Electoral management models Arturo Sánchez, member of the General Council at INE, explained the new institutional architecture for the administration of elections, including how the National Electoral Institute interacts with Local Electoral Bodies (OPLES). On that note, Yuri Beltrán, member of the Council at the Electoral Institute of the Federal District (Instituto Electoral del Distrito Federal, IEDF), explained how OPLES deploy coordinated actions with INE, their specific responsibilities in organizing elections and the main challenges they face after the recent reform. José Thompson, Executive Director of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, moderated this session.

10 10 Session 4: Political parties registration and prerogatives During this session, Pamela San Martin, member of the General Council at INE, explained new regulations regarding the registration and prerogatives of political parties in Mexico, after the recent reform. She addressed the audience to describe in general terms how political finance is managed and the voting threshold that parties need to reach in order to keep their registration. On the other hand, Attahiru M. Jega, President of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, and David Matamoros, Justice of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Honduras, provided two international references to compare with the Mexican model. The session was moderated by Justice Pedro Esteban Penagos López, of the TEPJF. Session 5: General framework of electoral offenses Session 6: Protection of political rights and electoral justice To explain how the Mexican constitutional tribunal on electoral matters works, Justice Manuel González Oropeza of the TEPJF, argued how the work of the TEPJF and, particularly, its Specialized Regional Chamber protect what can be called electoral freedom. The President of the Constitutional Court of Croatia, Chief Justice Jasna Omejec, gave an overview of the protection of political rights by judicial means in Europe, emphasizing those countries where Constitutional Courts have that mandate and providing details on the Croatian system. Chief Justice Patricio Valdés Aldunate, President of the Electoral Tribunal of Chile, shared with the audience how electoral justice has worked in his country since 1925, when this court was created. The session was moderated by TEPJF s Regional Justice María Amparo Hernández Chong Cuy. In the Mexican model, there is a Specialized Prosecutor responsible for investigating the election offenses described in the corresponding law. Santiago Nieto, Specialized Prosecutor for Election Offenses addressed the audience to explain his responsibilities and mandate. Juan Carlos Pérez, Advisor to the Vice-Presidency of the Electoral Tribunal of Panama, offered a view on how this works in his country, with Francisco Távara, President of the National Elections Jury of Peru as moderator.

11 11 Session 7: Financial control of political parties and campaigns This session was introduced by Benito Nacif, member of the General Council of INE, who presented in general terms how accountability and auditing works in Mexico after the reform. Eduardo Gurza, Director of the Accountability Unit complemented the first presentation by showing live how the online auditing system works and how political parties have been presenting invoices for the services and goods they have bought for campaigning purposes. From the TEPJF s perspective, Justice María del Carmen Alanis Figueroa explained the challenges posed by the recent reform, which establishes quantitative and qualitative parameters for the annulment of elections on grounds of violation of the new political finance regulations. Using examples of how these cases can be dealt with at the jurisdictional level, she illustrated the complexities in enforcing the applicable legislation. Chief Justice José Antonio Dias Toffoli, President the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil, provided details on how electoral justice works in his country, with a special reference to political finance. He explained how increasing campaigning costs and a stronger influence of corporations have created a troubling interaction between political and economic power. The session was moderated by José Thompson. Session 8: Regulation on the access and use of the media for electoral purposes Patricio Ballados, Executive Director of Prerogatives and Political Parties at INE, explained the general framework under which political parties access the media. He explained how the Mexican EMB controls this, as the law forbids procurement or purchase of airtime, and elaborated on the monitoring system. Justice Flavio Galván Rivera, of the TEPJF, gave a lecture on how complaints and irregularities regarding access to media and the legality of contents is also under the responsibility of TEPJF, through its Specialized Regional Chamber and, in last instance, its Superior Chamber. Liza García, on the other hand, gave a general overview on how political finance works in Puerto Rico. The session was moderated by Nubia Villacís, Vice- President of the National Electoral Council of Ecuador. Session 9: Vote counting and dissemination of provisional results During this session, Ciro Murayama, member of the General Council of INE offered a general overview of vote counting procedures and how the Electoral Preliminary Results Program (Programa de Resultados Electorales Preliminares, PREP) works. He emphasized the importance of the use of new and relevant technologies to provide certainty to voters and stakeholders. On the other hand, Carlos Ariel

12 12 Sánchez, National Registrar of the Civil State of Colombia shared with the audience the Colombian model and how the implementation of technologies have increased the efficiency of the registry and, as polls show, strengthened trust in this public institution. Terry Tselane, Vice President of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa also gave another perspective on how vote counting works in his country. The session was moderated by John N. Guiliani, Judge of the Superior Electoral Tribunal of the Dominican Republic. Session 11: Political parties and the Mexican federal election of 2015 This session invited ten political parties, from which nine sent their representative. Each speaker was given the floor to explain to international visitors what their political parties interpreted as the main challenges during the electoral process and their proposals to address them. The session was moderated by Manuel Carrillo, Head of the International Affairs Unit at INE. Session 10: Integration and functions of the joint polling station During this session, the Executive Director of Electoral Organization at INE, Miguel Ángle Solís, presented the Joint Polling Station and the Joint Voting Table models, which, for the first time, would receive ballots for both federal and local elections in cases of concurrent elections. He explained the main differences with the previous models and the benefits and challenges that its implementation may bring. The Vicepresident of the Electoral Court of Uruguay, Wilfredo Penco, provided a comparative perspective on different polling models in other Latin American countries, including Uruguay, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. The session was moderated by Salvador Romero. Roundtable: Mexico, 2015 elections The final session wrapped up the analysis of the Mexican election with national and international speakers. Roy Campos, CEO of Consulta Mitofsky, introduced the session sharing general trends that pollsters had been publishing

13 13 for local and federal elections, to give an overview of the political landscape in Mexico and the possibility of close competitions and potential challenges to elections, where most political parties would win something. The Director of the Legal Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas de la UNAM, IIJ-UNAM), Pedro Salazar, analyzed the main highlights during the electoral process and how the most recent electoral reform has been implemented, providing examples of circumstances that have put pressure on the electoral authorities, particularly when it comes to media exposure of political parties and candidates. Soledad Loaeza, professor and researcher at the Colegio de México (COLMEX), focused on the risks of a heavily contested election and the pressure posed by a negative socio-economic context. Daniel Zovatto, Director of the Latin America and the Caribbean Office of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), also provided other examples in the region to stress the importance to work, simultaneously, on consolidating procedural democracy and substantive democracy. He provided data on the importance of addressing the primary needs of the population and highlighted the importance of guaranteeing effective representation by political parties. This session was moderated by Flavia Freidenberg, researcher at the IIJ-UNAM. Data on countries and participants that attended the Information Program for International Visitors Country Visitors Country Visitors Antigua and Barbuda 1 Honduras 2 Argentina 1 Jamaica 1 Brazil 2 Nicaragua 1 Bulgaria 2 Nigeria 8 Cameroon 5 Palestine 1 Canada 1 Panama 5 Chile 2 Paraguay 2 Colombia 5 Peru 4 South Korea 3 Puerto Rico 1 Costa Rica 4 Dominican Republic 4 Croatia 2 Rumania 1 Ecuador 4 Russia 1 El Salvador 9 Santa Lucia 3 United States 3 South Africa 2 Georgia 2 Taiwan 4 Guatemala 4 Venezuela 3 Guyana 1 Total countries: 33 Total attendees: 94 Total foreign citizens registered to observe the election: 401 Additionally, representatives from international organizations, civil society organizations, political parties, embassies, public institutions, local electoral institutes and tribunals, universities and other stakeholders, attended the event.

14 14 Observation activities Support Program for Electoral Observation The TEPJF, the National Electoral Institute and the Ministry of the Interior, on behalf of the federal government, joined efforts and resources for the creation and operation of the Support Program for the 2015 Electoral Observation, aimed at providing supplementary funds to national civil society organizations to implement electoral observation projects. The previously mentioned institutions allocated public resources for the financing of the 39 projects that complied with the requirements, technical characteristics and general criteria set out in the public call to carry out electoral observation in the various stages of the electoral process and of the activities of the electoral authorities. These projects were not selected by representatives of the Mexican authorities, but by an Experts Committee created specifically for this purpose. Their public reputation and expertise is wellknown in Mexico and abroad in different areas, including administration of elections, transparency, access to and administration of justice, among others. They are: - José de Jesús Orozco (president of the Committee) - Jacqueline Peschard - Héctor Díaz Santana - Víctor Alarcón - Alfredo Figueroa Observation activities prior to the election Both UNIORE and the OAS deployed missions to hold interviews with stakeholders and authorities, including Justices of the TEPJF and member of the General Council of the INE. These preliminary visits helped to put the election in context and provide the general framework under which it would take place. Also, they offered an opportunity to identify areas that could raise the interest of observers. In this context, the Justices of the High Chamber of the TEPJF held two preliminary meetings with missions of UNIORE, and one with the Foreign Visitors Mission of the OAS. The mission also met with Regional Justices from the Specialized Regional Chamber and the Regional Chambers of the Federal District and Monterrey. Observation activities during the election The OAS deployed 62 observers through the country to visit 638 polling stations in 17 states, and sent experts to apply specific methodologies to identify strengths and areas of opportunity during this election. These observation activities included topics such as political finance, gender and electoral justice. According to a press release, the Head of the mission highlighted that the voting took place in an environment of peacefulness in most of the Mexican territory, not without lamenting the violent episodes that took place before the election and during Election Day at some polling stations. This election represents a victory for the democratic institutional stability of the country. Specifically on the electoral justice system, the mission observed an excessive workload and recommended legal reforms to avoid providing incentives for presenting an excessive number of legal disputes, as witnessed during this electoral process.

15 15 On a positive note, the mission also remembered that gender parity was established for the lists of candidates during the last reform and praised the efforts by TEPJF to apply this rule horizontally to candidates at the municipal level. The observers coordinated by CAPEL, were organized in ten groups which visited 14 boroughs in Mexico City, where they witnessed the opening and closing of 71 polling stations. Their preliminary report states that the creation of the Specialized Regional Chamber is indeed the establishment of a tribunal specialized in freedom of expression on political-electoral matters. Although it signals an opportunity for jurisdictional creativity and innovation, regarding the use of new information and communication technologies, it also points out the risk of a potential overload of claims presented to TEPJF requesting the annulment of elections. TEPJF s dissemination activities and media coverage Electoral Platform The TEPJF, through the Internet television channel Electoral Platform (Plataforma Electoral), carried out a special coverage of the elections held on June hours of broadcasting was carried out to disseminate information related with the development of the elections in an impartial, objective and timely manner. Also, eleven programs were produced to disseminate the democratic culture and knowledge of human rights. In the original productions, academics, researches, political actors, electoral authorities and citizens expressed their opinions, points of view and explained each of the stages of the electoral process. Moreover, programs that disseminated the rights of children, of adolescents, of women, of the members of indigenous peoples and communities, and of the citizens in general were broadcasted (Source: Coordination of Social Communication of the TEPJF) Fuente: Notimex

16 16 Dissemination period Report on activities on Twitter Election Day, June 7, 2015 During the elections of June 7, the twitter account of the TEPJF disseminated 121 messages in the period between 6:00 a.m. of June 6 and 11:59 p.m. of June 7. Around 114,586 accounts interacted with the information disseminated by account, through shared followers, retweets, messages marked as favorites and direct references. The majority of the interactions were made by accounts with more than 10,000 followers. 121 messages were generated by account, with information on: Live broadcast from INE through Electoral Platform: -- Information spots -- Bulletins with analysis and relevant information regarding the electoral process -- Broadcasting of the programs A Votar!, Justicia Electoral a la Semana, Sentencias a Debate, ExprésaTE and DiviérteTE -- Information graphics regarding the most relevant rulings of the High Chamber of the TEPJF Data on the electoral process -- Types of electoral offices -- Electoral map -- Map of the electoral process TEPJF graphics FEPADE graphics

17 17 Most relevant messages

18 Esta publicación se imprimió en junio de 2015 en la Coordinación de Comunicación Social del Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación. Carlota Armero núm. 5000, colonia CTM Culhuacán, CP 04480, delegación Coyoacán, México, DF. Su tiraje fue de 100 ejemplares.

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