JOURNALISTS CONSIDER OBSTACLES TO MEXICO’S FIRST JUDICIAL ELECTIONS

This article first appeared in the May 26, 2025 edition of Sin Embargo.

Mexico will undergo a historic process next Sunday, June 1st, when it holds its first-ever judicial election. However, despite the significance of these elections, there’s still a lack of awareness about how to participate. What are the main challenges facing this election? Is there public interest in voting? These and other questions were addressed in this issue of VERSUS.

Mexico City. A few days before the judicial election, which will renew the Federal Judicial Branch (PJF), there are still many obstacles to overcome which will have to be cleared and perfected over time, said journalists Alina Duarte, Daniela Barragán, Perla Velázquez and Meme Yamel.

“I believe the first challenge is the election’s novelty. The first obstacle is that there is a willingness to vote, but a lack of information. The presentation of information about the profiles of candidates, from the highest level, the Supreme Court of Justice, to the local level, is lacking and has proven to be quite unfair. I believe it’s not enough,” stated Alina Duarte.

The journalist noted that as this is the first time citizens will elect members of the Judiciary, the process will have areas for improvement and mistakes that shouldn’t be repeated.

“This information issue makes me think that we had said these elections could be improved. I think the issue of information is going to be brutal. This serves as an example to see that, despite all the obstacles and errors in the judicial election, it’s setting a brutal precedent. Depending on the media outlet, it will be a good or bad example for the rest of the region, but we can’t doubt that history will be made this Sunday.”

For her part, Perla Velázquez echoed information published today by the polling firm Enkoll, which highlights a lack of awareness among a large portion of the population regarding the judicial election.

“It’s the final call to vote in the judicial election. Very interesting data has just come out from the polling firm Enkoll, which is quite surprising because it seems people aren’t informed that there will be a judicial election on June 1st, and that’s what’s most worrying about citizen participation.”

The communicator noted that these obstacles are compounded by attempts from various fronts to discredit the judicial election and the opposition’s ongoing attempts to boycott it.

“There’s also what’s happening with the CNTE, after this call they’re making to boycott the judicial election if they don’t meet with President Claudia Sheinbaum. [Editor’s note: CNTE leadership has not called for a boycott of the judicial election.] They’re already adding up several points in which various political figures are openly calling for a boycott. Last week we talked about Ricardo Salinas Pliego.”

Six days before the first election to form Mexico’s judiciary, Enkoll released the results of a survey showing that 86 percent of the population is aware of this democratic exercise.

According to the results obtained by Enkoll, 51 percent of those surveyed reported having learned about the election of ministers and judges through television. Social media was the second most mentioned medium, with 21 percent, while propaganda produced by the candidates themselves came in third.

The survey also revealed that 38 percent of respondents plan to vote on June 1, compared to 24 percent who said they consider it “unlikely” to vote. Eleven percent said they consider their participation “not at all” likely.

According to the pollster’s data, turnout is expected to be 23 percent.

For her part, Meme Yamel pointed out that the campaigns deployed by the INE for this electoral process were neither sufficient nor well thought out.

“What the INE did by launching the Conóceles portal and claiming that was enough to meet the candidates wasn’t enough. It’s actually a mockery, considering that not everyone in Mexico can use a website or has internet access.”

The journalist mentioned that the INE began disseminating information about the judicial election late, focusing solely on electronic media to publicize the details of the process and neglecting other means.

“I can think of many other tools to help people learn about the candidates for the Judiciary. There were official radio and television broadcasts, there were billboards for buses, and it’s only now, as we approach the election, that we see billboards and advertising on the streets.”

Finally, Daniela Barragán indicated that this judicial election will be a matter of “trial and error,” as this will be the first time it is held, and there will be points to correct for future processes.

“While we’ve known throughout this entire process that this first vote will be a matter of trial and error, which is a bad thing because the positions being contested are too important to be in these circumstances; unfortunately, this is how it is. We’re already facing this process, and now it’s time to do it.”

Barragán emphasized that the model used by the electoral authorities for this judicial election should not be repeated, as it shows that people are unaware of the details of the process.

“This shows that this model shouldn’t be repeated for the next election; it didn’t work. It was what they needed to quickly implement, as the results of the Enkoll survey show. People don’t even know the election date, and 70 percent don’t know the candidates. It’s a model that can’t deliver any more.”

[These comments were made on Sin Embargo’s program Versus, which can be viewed below.]