By Alejandra Garcia and Bill Hackwell on June 2, 2025
Judicial election in Mexico. photo: Marco Ugarte / AP
Yesterday Mexico began an unprecedented moment in its democratic history. For the first time, citizens had the opportunity to directly elect almost 2,700 judges who will form the new face of the Judicial Branch for the next ten years. No nation has carried out a process as broad and deep as the one taking place in Mexico on this occasion.
The election took place in the headquarters of the 300 district councils of the National Electoral Institute (INE), coordinated by 32 local or state bodies. From there, votes cast in almost 84,000 polling places distributed throughout the country, 78% of them located in public places such as schools and government offices. Carla Humphrey, INE counselor, highlighted the importance of this process: “These elections are as civic as all the previous ones”.
The mechanism approved for the vote count is unprecedented in Mexico and is carried out through a system that involves 1,500 working groups, comprised of 12,000 counting and tallying points throughout the country.
The election was the most watched in Mexican electoral history. There were 169,827 accredited electoral observers, in addition to the international participation of 375 visitors from 40 countries and 16 international organizations that closely follow the process.
This day marks a significant advance in citizen participation and transparency in the Mexican judicial system. The election of almost 2,700 from local magistrates to Supreme Court justices is historic not just for Mexico but it also makes it the only country in the world where all judges are elected by the people. This process is still in development as it seeks to strengthen trust in institutions and promote a closer and more transparent justice system for all Mexicans. President Claudia Sheinbaum defined it as part of the process to make “Mexico the most democratic country in the world.”
The turnout on Sunday was lower than the normal 60% that turnout for Mexico’s presidential election partly because of calls to boycott by opposition parties and the initial kinks in the judicial voting process and just its general newness. With 13% of eligible voters participating the judges will be seated in September. Sheinbaum remained confident that it was a democratic step forward. “Yesterday’s turnout at the polls met expectations,” said Sheinbaum. “It was an innovative process that generated interest among the participants.”
“Everything can be perfected,” added Sheinbaum, looking ahead to the second round of judicial elections in which another 1,000 judges will be chosen. “We will draw conclusions from yesterday to make improvements for the judicial elections in 2027.”
Howls from the corporate media
The corporate media along with Mexico’s opposition parties have responded to Mexico’s judicial electoral efforts by attacking the elections as a heavy handed undemocratic power grab by Scheinbaum’s Morena Party instead of an attempt to eliminate judicial corruption and make judges more accountable. NBC’s response was “Mexico’s first judicial elections marked by low turnout, confusion and disillusionment”, while the New York Times lead headline was “Low Turnout in Mexico’s Far-Reaching Judicial Election Fuels Legitimacy Concerns”, while the Wall Street Journal flatly labeled it “Mexico’s Judicial Election Farce.”
Fundamental Questions about the make-up of Capitalist Democracies
So why is what Mexico did on Sunday such an attack on democracy? Doesn’t it make sense that the people voting over someone making decisions that directly affect them more democratic? The government of the US, touted to be the most democratic country by some, is made up of 3 equal branches; the legislative, the executive and the judicial. But why is it than that the executive gets to nominate all federal judges that are than approved by the Senate made up primarily of billionaire white men?
In the US, state judges can be selected through partisan elections, nonpartisan elections, or by appointment, depending on the state and level of court. Federal judges however are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Imagine what would be going on in the US if the federal courts weren’t basically a carousel of political appointees of the president.
As of May 23, 2025, the United States Senate has confirmed 234 federal judges nominated by Trump: three associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 54 judges for the United States courts of appeals, 174 judges for the United States district courts, and three judges for the United States Court of International Trade. And there are five nominations awaiting Senate action: one for the court of appeals and four for the district courts.
It is hard to imagine popularly elected judges just basically giving a green light to Trump’s massive number of illegal and cruel deportations of working immigrants and foreign students with legal documents or not that is currently taking place.
It is also hard to imagine Roe vs Wade, the historic law that gave women the federal right to control their own bodies when it comes to abortions, that was overturned in June 2022 by the Supreme Court, if that court was popularly elected.
Under Trump the US is moving towards the centralization of power in the executive branch while its Southern neighbor, despite the flaws, is going in an opposite direction.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English